A Mt Washington Story (by TTmember Adam Schwartz)

Mount Washington is hard to describe with words, and sometimes harder to experience in person. Some quick stats: Mt W boasts the world’s worst weather and highest recorded wind-speed (231 MPH). More than 100 people have died on her slopes, mostly due to hypothermia from quickly changing weather conditions. The road up Mt W is one of the steepest, most unrelenting climbs out there: 7.6 miles, 12% average grade, 18% extended sections and 22% pitches at the finish. I first biked up Mt W with friends in the 2000 practice ride. Fast forward 13 years and one of the friends wants to ‘get the band back together’ for a middle-aged assault on the mountain. My training had gone well this year, so I agreed and looked forward to testing those gains on ‘the mountain’.

Because Mt W is so steep, bikes need much smaller gears. I ended up running a 34T in the front and an 11-36 in the back, which gave me the all-important <1:1 gearing. Unfortunately, the 34T up front left me without my SRM and power info. Heart rate & perceived exertion worked for LeMond in the ’89 TdF final TT, so why shouldn’t it work for me;)

The morning of the race went smoothly. My family & I arrived at the base early, so they had time to spare before starting up the mountain. Riding down the mountain is prohibited (you’d die), so you must have a car meet you at the top and drive you and your bike down to the base. Weather was an amiable 82F & sunny with negligible wind, and my pre-race preparation went well. Last night’s dinner digested nicely, this morning’s hydration…both water and Accelerade…was going well. All said, I was looking forward to some good suffering. Since I couldn’t monitor my power, I decided to try and peg my heart @ 170 bpm, which I’d average during the Target 10k TT a few weeks prior. Rolling up to the line, I saw the first wave of elites ride off and was reminded that this was no practice ride; it was the race!

The cannon went off, and so did I. I quickly settled into a rhythm that felt strong and hard…loving my 34 x 36. Some riders passed me early on, but I focused on riding my own race and not worrying about others. The sun and heat quickly became apparent, but fortunately, there was some shade to be found.  The next 45 minutes were a long grind, with the occasional entertainment of finding the flattest route around the corners.

Around the 45 minute mark, my race took a turn for the worse. Temperature started dropping, wind started blowing and fog started rolling in. I also started feeling the effects of my effort, and in the words of Phil Ligget, “was being put into difficulty.” I slammed an Enervitene energy shot and hoped. Unfortunately, the race became more ominous. Wind grew stronger, fog grew denser and temperature dropped further. The only good news was my not knowing the weather at the top.  My family was already there and experiencing 70(!) mph winds, driving rain, 55F & 10 ft visibility. (A weather observatory sits are the top of Mt W and reports the weather conditions in real-time).

Despite the energy shot, my fatigue was worsening and my speed was growing perilously slow on the steeps. On a dirt section soon after, I was hit by a gust of wind, lost my balance, unclipped and stopped. Since it’s impossible to clip into pedals without some assistance, I had to walk my bike up the mountain until I came upon a car that I could hold onto and clip in. On a positive note, I didn’t lose too much time walking; the fastest run is 56 min, the fastest bike is 49 min. By this point, my race was becoming less race and more survival. Visibility was 10’, winds were 60 mph and temperature was 55F; fortunately, there was no rain.

The remainder of the ride devolved into simply surviving and keeping the bike upright. I received a shout of encouragement from Roger Harper looking strong as he passed me, and I eventually made it to the parking lot and navigated the 22 percent grade despite the fog. I crossed the finish line to cheers from my family, who were relieved to see me but were a bit concerned about my condition. In retrospect, I probably had a mild case of hypothermia; I just remember being confused by the volunteers wearing winter parkas when I was warm enough in my sleeveless TT jersey. We eventually made our way back to the car and back down the mountain where it was still 82F & sunny.

In my previous Mt W hill climbs, the weather had always cooperated, which left me wanting (somewhat) to race under epic Mt W weather. Now that I’ve experienced epic, I’ll stick with cooperative.

Good luck to the folks racing the Official Race this weekend; may the weather cooperate.

(TTMember Adam Schwartz crosses the finish line. Click to Enlarge) 

(TTMembers Adam Schwartz and Roger Harper)

Comments

[Nolan M]

Wowzer well done Adam. Epic indeed.