The Devil is in the Details...

Climbing.  A little over 61,000 ft of it actually from the Canadian border down to Mexico on our route.  Yet up until this point, the highest "mountain" Katelyn has climbed has been the local freeway overpass.  With the weather nice these past couple days, I felt it was time to try out her legs on something a little more substantial.  But first, a little refresher on categorized climbs...

At the top of difficult Patterson Pass--not sure she wanted to smile!

Climbs are categorized by difficulty according to their length and the average gradient of the climb.  These range from a Cat 5 (being the least difficult) to a Cat 1 (much more difficult).  Then there is the coup de gras of cycling where, when a climb is too long or steep for Cat 1-5, they simply rate it "HC" which stands for "beyond category."    On our month-long trip, the highest category we will face will be a Cat 2--there are two of them, many Cat 3's, and 4's & 5's aplenty.  So, for Katelyn's first climb EVER?  Patterson Pass: A Cat 2 climb!

Starting out--11 miles to go!

On Patterson Pass, it was interesting to see Katelyn on the lead up to the climb--a couple miles that were relatively flat.  She was really pushing herself and I had to warn her to slow down; she had no idea what was to come.  Once she got to the climb, it was as if she hit a wall.   Patterson Pass has some really steep sections and she was learning quickly why I told her to pace herself from the beginning.  Fast forwarding to the end, she made it to the top but was dizzy and wobbling and felt like she would throw up.  10 minutes of resting put her back in a good place and the descent was fast and fun.  I was also happy to see that she is doing super well handling her bike at faster speeds.

Mt Diablo is a rite of passage for Bay Area climbers!  Add Katelyn to that list!

So what should a dad do for an encore?  My favorite climb of course:  Mt. Diablo!  That's Spanish for "The Devil Mountain."  It's 11 miles to the top, almost 6% average grade, and an HC categorized climb--the granddaddy of them all!  I don't know why, but I just felt as if this was the climb that would show her that she could do anything she set her mind to.   In order to "level" the playing field, I decided to hook up the trailer to my bike and tow it up to the top.  I brought along our dog Wicket for a little weight and then threw in a tent and some water bottles.  I also brought a 50 pound bag of salt but I decided to leave that behind at the last minute (smart decision!).

Wicket had the time of his life!  I swear he weighed 50 pounds!

Halfway to the top--it was a solid 80 degrees out and this shaded bench hit the spot!

Mt. Diablo doesn't really have much of a warm up so Katelyn had to adjust quickly.  She did a much better job of maintaining a slower tempo, but even with her slower speed, she was still much faster than me and Wicket and I had to tell her to slow down even more.  By the time we were three miles in, she was feeling the heat and the climb and I started contemplating turning around at the halfway point--a ranger station midway up.   Once we arrived there, a little water and a decent rest had her thinking that we would keep going.  I failed to tell her that the second half of the climb is where it really kicked up steep.   She kept climbing and climbing like a trooper and, even though we took many more breaks, we eventually made it to the top.  Mt. Diablo, on a clear day, provides views that extend to the Farallon Islands all the way to Yosemite inland.  The views are just incredible! 

 

On top of the world: Mt Diablo summit.  Katelyn crushed it!

Even though we won't face any climb nearly as hard as Mt. Diablo on our ride, we learned a couple things:  first, Katelyn can climb.  It's not flashy or fast but she has the endurance.  Second, she can descend.  She did run off the road once while taking a corner too fast but she recovered in the gravel and stayed on her bike.  She learned from it and took the rest of the corners much slower.  Third, the bike trailer was TOUGH!  With only 12 pounds or so in it (not including trailer weight), it really takes a lot to get it up hills.  On the flip side however, I forgot it was even behind me while descending--it goes down hills great!   My conclusion? After this week, I am much more confident that both dad and daughter have the stamina to get down the Pacific Coast--as hard as it may be.
 
On a side note, this week marks our first link to our Youtube vlog so be sure to check out this link to the Mt. Diablo in video! bit of footage we took.  Also, we are finding it fun to see our blog reach new viewers so we really hope you will share our link with your friends!  There is a link below to follow us. Also, please leave comments with any suggestions on what you would like to know about our trip and preparation!





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