Bogus Basin Hill Climb

This one was lots of fun. Four hundred of my closest friends all heading up one twisty road with me.

Having never been up Bogus on a bike (and only once by car) I didn't really know what to expect. Tyler's advice was to take it easy on the first half since that's the steep stuff, then go harder once the worst of the switchbacks are behind you. I took that advice to heart and rode for a while with my friend Steve - a strong rider to be sure but not constructed for ascents. Gatlin chilled with the two of us for less than a mile but forged ahead and was out of sight after not too long. I figured he'd bonk and I'd pass him near the top, but in hindsight I don't know why I'd have thought that. With his strong running background, Gatlin's got the distinct advantage of knowing how much he can push himself and how much he's got in reserve. At the center of his dashboard lies a well calibrated digital fuel gauge. All I've got is an idiot light that pops on at 1/16 of a tank. :) So once he was away, I never saw him again. Along the way, Mike stopped at several turn-outs for photo opportunities and was giving each of us reports on the other as we passed. Gatlin not only never faded, but he continued to pull away from me pretty much the whole way. Note to self: Keep Gatlin reeled in if you want to sprint with him at the end. :)

But I passed Tyler and Rod, one of the other guys I rode the Lyle Pearson with this year, about half way up. The fourth guy in our LP team, Daniel, finished ahead of Gatlin. Daniel's skinnier than I am - born to climb. Actually speaking of passing, I don't think I got passed by anyone at all after I determined to go after Gatlin. Of course by then anyone who had any dreams of being a hero had already gone. :) But yeah, I passed a LOT of people including a couple that I know put a minute or more into me at the Hubbard TTs, so that felt good. Anyway here are the results. I'm 205 overall, and Gatlin's 171. Oh and there's Cycloid just about right between us. The official clock was significantly faster than mine. And what's this? Only 13 women placed ahead of me? Geez ladies! Take some pride in yourselves! :)

The ride down was an absolute blast. I was giggling for a good while. :) Winding down through the trees is great fun. Gatlin got stung by a bee or something on the way down and that was less fun, but it didn't hurt me at all. :) I kept my bike reigned in a little during the switchbacky parts until I got to the relatively straight portion right near the bottom. Then I let it rip and worked it up to a max speed of 42.8 MPH.

Whew! Fun though. Even the ride up was fun. Next year I'll know I can hit it a bit harder. And this has me excited to work on climbing through the fall and preparing for the Lyle Pearson in the spring. Imagine that - actually preparing for the Lyle Pearson. :)