I’m going to trek on Mount Washington with my girlfriend and though about trying it after with my bike. There is a good article on the race at this address: http://www.ltolman.org/mtwash.htm for those who dont know much about it(1998 – talks about Tyler H beating the record).
What I was wondering, is if it was possible to climb it with my actual settings : Trek 5500 with CRANKSET: Shimano Dura-Ace 53/39 and CASSETTE: Shimano Dura-Ace 12-23, 9spd.
If not, what shoud I do? I dont want to spend too much money dor a cassette or crank that I will almost never use.
As anyone here done it and has some tips or story to share?
One other question : I know it is not allowed to go down on the bike so what happens to someone who cant make it to the top?!!! And are bikes actualy allowed to climb it?
You’re welcome, don’t know if you have this link or not…http://www.tinmtn.org/hillclimb/index.cfm. All the Hillclimb info is there. Looks like you’d be good to go for the practice run…and it’s a bargain compared to paying for the race!
To answer your question though (entry to the race aside) you’d better be a seriously kick-ass climber if you want to get up that thing in a 23. 23 percent pitch at the top - not pretty.
Not in luck, I have a Half Ironman the weekend of the practice…
And you’re all right, the more I read about that climb, the more I tell myself that I should make modifications on my bike to climb it. Especially by getting my ratio something like 1:1. Some people take there rear break off to lose some extra weight!!!
People are talking about the Pack Monadnock in southern New Hampshire as a good pratice ride for Mt Washington…I might try it this summer.
Thank’s for your answers…and Khai, you have plenty of good climbs in the West ! For once, East takes one.
I just got back from a ride in the white mountains, actually went right by Mt. Washington on Rt 302 (I think). We rode up and over several “notches” today, temp in the 40’s and rain, good fun. At any rate, it is a tough looking climb. Since I’m new to New England, I certainly will do the race next year - with a triple, and I consider myself a pretty strong climber. I think Tyler rode a 39 small ring with a 12-25 when he set his record (which has been beat). FSA has a “compact” double if I’m not mistaken, like a 50/30 or something similar which might be an option as well.
I did Mt. Washington in 1999 and this year will be my second attempt at the rock pile. It is one hard climb that averages 12% for the full 7.6 miles. Most people use a 1:1 ratio or there about. If you are not a climber I would recommend having gears on both sides of the 1:1.
If you can’t do Mt. Washington but want to get a good idea of the climb try Mt. Ascutney in VT. It is 1/2 the distance and 1/2 the elevation gain as Mt. Washington so you get a good idea of what 12% grades feel like. Of course you don’t get the bad weather that Mt. Washington typically provides. Tom Danielson who broke Tyler’s record last year used Mt. Ascutney as a warmup ride for Mt. Washington. I know for a fact that he was over geared for his first attempt up Mt. Ascutney. Came back another day with lower gearing and flew up the hill.
I did it last year with a 39x34 (XT cassette and RD) and it hurt. Took me 1:34. Spoke to Tim Johnson on line for the porta johns and he said he was running a 35x32, so even he went towards 1x1. I’m racing again this year. Send me a message if you’d like to train sometime before in VT.
Thank’s…I’ll probably go try some hill in Vermont (mixt with trekking with my Girlfriend ). My mail is rferron@did.qc.ca Send me your mail and I’ll contact you when I’ll be planning the weekend.