pleasanting

There's this thing called "Everesting" that cyclists are doing these days: pick any hill, anywhere, and do repeats of it until you've climbed the equivalent height of Mt. Everest (8,848 meters; 29,029 feet).  With most of the summer's cycling events canceled due to the pandemic, this challenge has been very popular, giving people a goal to try for which they can do socially distanced.  

Top of 4 (we had snacks at 4 and 7)

Let's be clear: we did not climb the height of Mt. Everest - wasn't even a possibility.  But there's this one climb out at Round Valley, PorcUClimb, that I love; every time we ride it, I say, "I could ride this all day!"  So we decided to see just how many times I could ride it, connecting with the upper part of Down Dog to make the 2.43 mile P-Dog loop.

Top of 7

Spoiler alert: I did it ten times.  Now, this climb has only 182 feet of elevation - so if I had actually wanted to Everest I would still be riding.  I had hoped to do ten at a minimum and I think if it hadn't been so hot, I might have been able to knock out one or two more laps.  But we were out there for nearly four hours and even though we had started around 8 a.m., it was pushing noon at the start of August in Utah - even in Park City it's hot.

Top of 9

My best lap was #2: my legs had warmed up so I wasn't wobbly; I didn't have anyone in front of me so I could climb at my own pace; and I actually felt like I descended pretty well.  That lap took me eighteen minutes, which would be my fastest on the day.  By lap #5, my legs were starting to tire.  Laps 7 and 8 were brutal but by #9, the end was in sight and I felt pretty good.  I was toast by the final climb, however: my feet swollen in the heat, the tendons behind my left knee were creaking and I was saddle-sore.  

Top of 10

I don't usually ride for four hours and I hadn't taken a whole lot of rest.  H, who is so much stronger and faster than I am, waited for me at the top of PorcUClimb and the bottom of Down Dog each time.  This meant his riding time was three hours and he had an hour of rest.  In that same four hour period, I only had twenty minutes of rest because sometimes I would get to the top and want to keep going, just to try to stay ahead of the other riders out on the trail.  Being a Saturday morning, it was pretty busy until about 11 a.m. - but since both trails are one-way only, we never had to deal with oncoming traffic and that was a treat.

Done!  Where's the beer?!?

It took me about twenty minutes to feel like myself again once the ride was done, stretching to relax my back and legs, taking those dang biking shoes off, etc.  By then I was ravenous and very thirsty.  Stopping by Grid City Beerworks for vegan wings and nachos, and some tasty pale ales, seemed like the right thing to do at that point.

Our total elevation gain, including the 208' from the parking lot to the start line, was 2,028'.  That means that although we didn't climb Everest, we did climb Pleasant Mountain, southern Maine's tallest mountain (2,006' feet, and basically starting at sea level) and home of Shawnee Peak ski area.

Ride stats: 27.82 miles; moving (H) 2:51 (A) 3:40 / 9.7 m.p.h.; overall 4:01 / 6.9 m.p.h.; H's max speed 23.3 m.p.h.

10 laps @ 2.43 = 24.30 miles + distance from truck to start line

10 laps @ 182' = 1,820' + 208' from truck to start line = 2,028'