Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Road Biking: San Jose King of the Mountain (Sierra Road)

I did it last year, so I must do it this year. (Pretty logical, eh?)

I expected improvement over last year just because I did train for a few weeks for this ride; however, I did not expect to beat my PR (30:44 set about two months ago) on this race. For one, the weather condition was not optimal and as it turned out, there was cross wind or head wind near the top. Also, I have been having a nagging lower back pain. Last Saturday when we rode Sierra Road, I could not get any power from my back and was quite slow on  my pre-ride. I optimistically thought for sure the pain would go away within a week, but it did not. Even a visit to a chiropractor on Thursday did not make it quite go away.

My expectation turned out to be realistic, I did miss my PR (32:06), yet it improved from last year (32:15). Erik, despite the headwind, beat his PR and finished with a 30:20. Good job! (The results can be accessed from the event homepage.)

There was a much smaller turnout this year.  For example, in the Cat4/5/open men’s category, the number droped from last year’s 143 finishers to this year’s 63.  Poor weather, Valentine’s, lack of advertisement, stressed economy… Maybe all of the above?  I ran into Alison and Pat that I acquainted with through Low Key Hillclimb series and had a nice chat with them. It only take one goat to understand another.