2009 Wintergreen Ascent

Posted by Dan on 4. May 2009 23:19

Saturday, Team Fitness Together hitched up the horses and headed west for the Wintergreen Ascent. If you've never been there or done that, Wintergreen Resort is a ski mountain about 40 miles southwest of Charlottesville. The hill was featured in the early 90's Tour DuPont and climbed by both Lance Armstrong and Greg Lemond in competition. Riders climb 2,626 ft. over 6.75 miles with an average grade of 7.4%. The course begins with a grade of 3.6% over the first two miles, then goes up to 8.9%, hitting 15% at its steepest in several spots.

Youtube.com has a cool animated profile of the course. Here's a map and profile of the course - far less animated but equally impressive.

I spent Friday preparing for the race by trying to locate a 12-27 cassette for the Madone which had a 12-25 on it. What difference would two teeth make? We were going to find out the answer is "Plenty". I found and installed the new cassette only to realize I haven't put a new chain on the bike in over 6,000 miles. Judging by the grinding noise emanating from the back wheel, it was time for a new one. So now the bike and I are ready to climb. Turns out the bike was far more prepared than I was. Thanks to Steve at East Coast Bicycles for his help in getting ready.

Wick and Kyle were heading out Friday evening to hang with Jeremiah Bishop and hope some of his climbing juju would rub off. I drove up on Saturday morning, tweeting along the way. I drove to the top of the mountain and setup camp. After getting registered and dressed, I started a fairly standard warm-up on the trainer. After a half hour or so, I stretched and did another 15-20 minutes, then headed over to the shuttle for a ride to the start at the base. The resort frowns on cyclists riding down the hill, especially while there are riders coming up and the road's open to traffic. Kyle, Wick and Jeremiah went out to do a good 3 mile climb as a warm-up. Their warm-up sounded much better than mine and proved to be much more effective. Let that be a lesson...

I was the first of the Cat 4s to go off thanks to my lightning fast registration skills. At 11:33, I zeroed out the PowerTap and prepared for what was sure to be 30 minutes of mild discomfort. Thirty seconds later I was off, big chain ring powering up the 3.6% grade, making sure I kept my watts below 300 so as not to leave it all at the base. Wick started with the Cat 4s at 11:50:00 and Kyle with the Cat 3s at 11:57:00, plus or minus a few minutes.

Maybe a minute and a half into my ride, I was passed by the guy behind me. Don't know who he was, but he was wearing a red and white jersey. Getting passed this early was a pretty tough blow. Having not done this TT before, I wondered what he knew that I didn't - why was he hammering up the hill in this relatively easy section, obviously putting out 350+ watts so soon? It was here that I began to think that just perhaps I was in for more than mild discomfort. I downshifted a gear or so and kept marching on, still keeping it below 300 watts.

About two minutes later I caught my 30 second man. Then another and another. I was on my fourth by the I reached the resort's guard shack. The grade had seriously picked up and I was in my little chain ring, maybe on the 23T cog. I'm not sure. What I am positive of is that my heart rate was near max, my breathing was quite labored and it was getting easier to keep it under 300. Keeping it above 250 was proving to be a little harder.

Within no time, I was putting the extremes of that new cassette to work. I was pushing 39x27 and having a grand old time doing it. Somewhere around that 15% grade, I had to do a swerve or two of my own. That seemed to be all it took. It was just before the halfway mark that I passed the guy that blasted by me back on the lower slopes. That would have been a tremendous morale booster had I been able to see straight and recognize him. Everyone had a red jersey on, including the bear that I was sure was stalking me up the hill.

So after awhile, the mind shut down and zeroed in on the important stuff. I couldn't allow myself to think about stopping or resting or anything other than pedaling. Just go up. I had my lowest gear and target power output that I KNEW I could sustain for at least an hour. I now focused on sitting upright (aero doesn't exist when you're climbing), keeping my hands spread out on the bars to keep the chest open, smooth efficient pedaling and seat position. I've heard an aft position helps in climbing, but at times, there was no better place than on the rivet, centered over the bottom bracket. I shifted back and forth to keep things interesting and did my best not to stand, saving it for the end. I had to hold my breath several times to "reset" my breath because it becomes rather erratic. Rhythm is awesome. When I'd adjust my position and get my breathing under control, I felt like I could motor up a couple of these climbs, albeit very slowly. The unfortunate thing is I didn't learn this until mile 5 or so.

I came up the last big climb just before the finish and helpful volunteers were there to encourage riders and point them in the right direction. When I heard the end was right up the hill and around the corner, I let loose with a weak "yee haw" and unloaded all that energy I'd been saving by keeping my output below 300. Turns out there wasn't a whole lot left in the tank. So I moseyed on up the hill at the same pace and turned the corner. I could see the white tent and the finish line. The crowds were getting thick and I was elated. Then, from out of nowhere, a wheel edges up on my left. There was no way I was going to get passed in the last 100 meters of this bloody ride and definitely not in front of spectators, so I hit it. We both sprinted with whatever we had left and put on a mildly amusing show for the crowd. I managed to hold him off to the finish. After offering him a weak thanks, I coasted to my car, dismounted (barely) and collapsed, not necessarily in that order. Moving my bike from where I sat so I could get the water bottle out took an enormous effort.

Within a few minutes, I was back up and headed back up to that last corner to try and get pictures of Wick and Kyle and shout encouraging things at them. It really does help. So I shouted at Wick and forgot to take his picture. A few minutes later, Jeremiah Bishop came roaring up the hill to set a new course record of 32:00. Very nice. Kyle arrived a few minutes after that. Final results for everyone are posted on pre-reg.com. Ours were:

Dan: 0:45:35.289; 8.88 mph avg - 14th place
Wick: 0:42:23.727; 9.55 mph avg - 8th place
Kyle: 0:44:12.677; 9.16 mph avg - 12th place

And that was it for my first Wintergreen Ascent. I was hoping to beat 0:45:00, but that was before I knew what the climb actually entailed. Overall, I'm very happy with this time and look forward to taking a few minutes off it next year, with the help of a compact crankset of course.

No pictures of this one, but you can see a few in Paul Purpura's article for Nelson County Life. Team Traveller also posted a few to their gallery.