week 4
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Bohlman-Norton-Kittridge-Quickert-On Orbit-Bohlman

Week 4 of the 2011 Low-Key Hillclimb Series

Kelly Crowley in her national team jersey leads the women up On Orbit (Thomas Preisler)
Thanks to coordinator James Porter, with help from Christine Holmes, Howard Kveck, Brian Lucido, McLovely, Kris McQueen, Paul Melville, Noelle Paquet, Pat Parseghian, Thomas Preisler, Thomas Rabedeau, and Han Wen for making today's climb possible!

Photos

Report

Today, 126 Low-Keyers crushed the brutal slopes of Bohlman, Norton, Kittridge, Quickert, On Orbit, and Bohlman. Truly this wasn't a day to talk about times, speeds, or placings. With a climb this intimidating, this unrelenting, this painful, to cross the finish is to win. And we had by far a Low-Key record for winners today.

The weather was absolutely perfect, the pavement was perfect, and riders were ready today as coordinator James Porter hit the car horn signaling riders to start from the ceremony. Here was the trickiest part of the ride, as so many riders crammed into a single lane of the narrow road resulted in a bit of incidental contact here and there. Soon enough riders reached the volunteers pointing the way toward Norton... the climb was about to really start.

Grades over 10% in this section were merely a harbringer of what was to come, but the pack almost immediately stretched on the hill. Closing out the first kilometer a brief interlude marked an end to this opening course, but it was all too brief to prepare for what followed.

What followed was un unrelenting series of brutally steep slopes as Norton gave way to Kittridge. Then Kittridge is blocked, forcing a left onto Quickert. Then Quickert climbs, onward, to the legendary On Orbit.

On Orbit. Such a silly name yet it immediately strikes a sobering fear into those who know it. On Orbit: where the rider is presented not once, but twice with inhumanely steep grades which send the will quivering to the brink. On Orbit... oh, the humanity!

But what makes On Orbit survivable is the knowledge that at its top comes, finally, some relief. A brief descent, an oh-so-precious few heartbeats of recovery. And today, riders were treated to a small crowd at the bottom, as a group of ACTC riders, having summited already, cheered them on back to Bohlman.

But it wasn't over. Bohlman's 11% grade here by any standard is steep, any standard except that which preceded it. Still, the need to focus, to push on, to not relax.

Then finally the rollers, carefully around a few tight turns, a roadside dog unaccustomed to so many intruders, and it was done. Defeated. For another year.

Leaders this week: Chris Phipps returned for his first Low-Key here to push previously undefeated Tracy Colwell into second for the week. Super-master Harlan Chapman was third in the men's standings. In the women's ranking, Kelly Crowley took the top spot the second week in a row, with Rikke Preisler second and Laura Stern third. And in the hybrid-electric division, Bill Bushnell led team Low-Key to its first top-ranking of the year. Not surprisingly, no juniors this week. They've got plenty of time ahead to deal with this one in the future.

Thanks to our super-volunteers this week for making this challenging climb go super-smoothly.

Results

Strava T-shirt qualifiers indicated with orange background.

Hybrid Electric
pl # name team cat time mph fph score
1 6 Bill Bushnell Low-Key Its All About The Bike 18:10 14.66 6639 116.74

Men
pl # name team cat time mph fph score
1 424 Chris Phipps Western Wheelers 1 26:08 10.19 4615 131.22
2 48 Tracy Colwell Team Colwell 40+ 26:51 9.92 4492 127.72
3 43 Harlan H. Chapman Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Specialized 50+ 27:11 9.80 4437 126.15
4 1 Daniel Connelly Low-Key 3 27:30 9.69 4385 124.70
5 404 Jacob Berkman Dolce Vita Cycling 30+ 27:37 9.65 4367 124.17
6 114 Steve Peck Silicon Valley Triathlon 45+ 27:55 9.54 4320 122.84
7 33 Bill Brier Team Fremont FFBC p/b Chipotle 45+ 28:40 9.29 4207 119.62
8 44 Tim Clark Low-Key 40+ 28:56 9.21 4168 118.52
9 74 Rich Hill LGBRC 45+ 28:59 9.19 4161 118.32
10 152 Ben Weir   30+ 29:06 9.15 4144 117.84
11 63 Joe Fant San Jose Bike Club 50+ 29:16 9.10 4121 117.17
12 106 McLovin The Brown Zone 1 29:20 9.08 4111 116.90
13 308 Rune Dahl Western Wheelers 45+ 29:23 9.07 4104 116.70
14 113 Christian Paquet Doogie 29:32 9.02 4084 116.11
15 329 Dave Blizard Pen Velo/Pomodoro 40+ 29:41 8.97 4063 115.52
16 428 Tommy "Milktoast" Rice Coretechs Cycling Team 50+ 29:43 8.96 4058 115.40
17 96 Bennett Chi Lee Speedy Bees 45+/Ponytail 29:48 8.94 4047 115.07
18 133 Dai Sieh The Brown Zone Robusto 29:50 8.93 4042 114.94
19 59 Mark Edwards Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 29:50 8.93 4042 114.94
20 422 Dan Palmer Bike Trip/Symantec 45 T 30:00 8.88 4020 114.31
21 434 Brooks Sizemore Pen Velo/Pomodoro 4 30:03 8.87 4013 114.12
22 261 Joe Sullivan San Jose Bike Club 35+ 30:15 8.81 3987 113.36
23 311 Brian Edwards Dirkless 30:29 8.74 3956 112.49
24 61 Steven Enns Dirkless 30:30 8.73 3954 112.43
25 325 Kevin Keenan Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 55+ 30:33 8.72 3948 112.25
26 53 J.D. Daniels Eden Bikes 35+ 30:39 8.69 3935 111.88
27 251 Dan Perry Bike Trip/Symantec 40+ 30:50 8.64 3911 111.22
28 419 Dave Morton   M35 30:52 8.63 3907 111.10
29 432 Ken Sato Bike Trip/Symantec 45+ 30:54 8.62 3903 110.98
30 440 Cieran Byrne Western Wheelers 31:01 8.59 3888 110.56
31 240 Paul McKenzie Marc Pro - Strava 55+ 31:06 8.57 3878 110.26
32 433 Mike Schuster Google 40+ 31:31 8.45 3827 108.80
33 213 Andy Crews Diablo 40+ 31:34 8.44 3820 108.63
34 78 Tick Houk The Brown Zone 50+ 31:37 8.43 3814 108.46
35 66 Klaus Fleischmann   40= 31:43 8.40 3802 108.12
36 64 TOM FERREIRA Eden Bikes 45+ 31:51 8.36 3786 107.67
37 129 Tim Sawyer Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 31:52 8.36 3785 107.61
38 237 Justin Lucke LGBRC Plant Based 31:55 8.35 3779 107.44
39 126 Denin Sahovic The Brown Zone 35+ 31:59 8.33 3771 107.22
40 242 Peter Mehlitz   Too-Old-To-Count 32:00 8.33 3769 107.16
41 225 Chris Furgiuele Dolce Vita Cycling 35+ 32:06 8.30 3757 106.83
42 92 KP The Brown Zone None Of Your Bee'S Wax 32:15 8.26 3740 106.33
43 144 Nils Tikkanen Bike Trip/Symantec Honey Badger 32:18 8.25 3734 106.17
44 122 Doug Reynolds Alberto's Steak House 60+ 32:23 8.23 3724 105.89
45 80 Martin Hyland Western Wheelers 55+ 32:27 8.21 3716 105.68
46 127 Naoto Sato   45+ 32:45 8.13 3682 104.71
47 34 Adam Brinkman Dirkless 30+ 32:45 8.13 3682 104.71
48 309 Bryn Dole Blekko 40+ 32:53 8.10 3668 104.28
49 331 Christopher O'Keefe Atomic Bonk 45+ 32:54 8.10 3666 104.23
50 52 Rob Cosaro Doogie 50+ 32:56 8.09 3662 104.12
51 429 John Richardson Pen Velo/Pomodoro 55+ 32:57 8.08 3660 104.07
52 117 Bill Preucel Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 45+ 33:21 7.99 3616 102.82
53 105 Russ McCrary Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 50+ 33:31 7.95 3598 102.31
54 410 Jeff Farnsworth San Jose Bike Club 50+ 33:47 7.89 3570 101.50
55 103 Bogdan Marian   30+ 33:48 7.88 3568 101.45
56 413 Jimfox hammer nutrition 65+ 33:57 7.85 3552 101.01
57 202 Stephen Berg Western Wheelers 30+ 34:10 7.80 3530 100.37
58 267 Alan Weatherall San Jose Bike Club 34:25 7.74 3504 99.64
59 121 Carlos Reyes   20+ 34:48 7.66 3466 98.54
60 305 Gino Cetani Western Wheelers 40+ 34:49 7.65 3464 98.49
61 112 Shance Ordell Western Wheelers 35+ 123 35:00 7.61 3446 97.98
62 148 David Vrane Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 45+ 35:01 7.61 3444 97.93
63 268 Jens Weber Doogie 30+ 35:03 7.60 3441 97.84
64 156 Matt Wocasek Bike Trip/Symantec 45+ 35:23 7.53 3408 96.91
65 136 Frederick Stamm Pen Velo/Pomodoro 55+ 35:31 7.50 3396 96.55
66 12 Will von Kaenel LGBRC 50+ 35:45 7.45 3373 95.92
67 431 Curtis Ruegg Pen Velo/Pomodoro 45+ 35:55 7.42 3358 95.48
68 232 Franz Kelsch Alberto's Steak House 60+ 36:02 7.39 3347 95.17
69 408 Fred Egley Dos Egleys 45+ 36:09 7.37 3336 94.86
70 83 Tim Irvine LGBRC 40+ 36:32 7.29 3301 93.86
71 153 Jim Williams Alberto's Steak House 60+ 36:33 7.29 3300 93.82
72 211 Philip Clark Google 25+ 36:53 7.22 3270 92.97
73 55 Jon Degenhardt Alameda Velo 50+ 36:56 7.21 3265 92.85
74 70 Bruce Gardner Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 40+ 36:57 7.21 3264 92.81
75 81 Brandon Iles Google 25+ 37:02 7.19 3257 92.60
76 411 Fred Frederson Coretechs Cycling Team Cat Slow 37:09 7.17 3246 92.31
77 315 Chris Gros-Balthazard Diablo 35+ 37:37 7.08 3206 91.16
78 418 Miro Miklos   30+ 37:37 7.08 3206 91.16
79 215 Vince Cummings Alberto's Steak House 50+ 37:55 7.03 3181 90.44
80 332 Take Ogawa   35+ 38:00 7.01 3174 90.24
81 51 Richard Contreras Team Rhus 50+ 38:22 6.94 3143 89.38
82 436 Michael Williams Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 40+ 38:25 6.93 3139 89.26
83 132 Jeff Shute Google 30+ 38:25 6.93 3139 89.26
84 435 Matthew Werner Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 38:28 6.93 3135 89.15
85 231 John D Kastel Death Valley 45+ 38:43 6.88 3115 88.57
86 120 Vinay Ravuri Georgia Tech 38:46 6.87 3111 88.46
87 427 David Puglia Coretechs Cycling Team 55+ 39:03 6.82 3088 87.81
88 313 David Fitch Western Wheelers 65+++ 39:07 6.81 3083 87.67
89 93 Romain Laboisse Palo Verde Velo 35+ 39:20 6.77 3066 87.18
90 31 Mark Boolootian Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 39:21 6.77 3065 87.15
91 412 Jon Glancy Dirkless 39:29 6.75 3054 86.85
92 27 Sam Beal Chain Reaction 60+ 39:56 6.67 3020 85.87
93 317 Yihua He Eden Bikes 7 40:14 6.62 2998 85.23
94 243 Edward Miller SLACer 70+ 40:20 6.60 2990 85.02
95 421 Ramon Ochoa bikeforums.net 40+ 40:53 6.52 2950 83.88
96 41 Jorge Chang   35+ 40:55 6.51 2947 83.81
97 21 Detlef Adam Bike Trip/Symantec 45+ 41:04 6.49 2937 83.50
98 28 Jan Berka   45+ 41:04 6.49 2937 83.50
99 128 Wink Saville Google 60+ 41:11 6.47 2928 83.27
100 219 Pierre Doussiere   50+ 41:54 6.36 2878 81.84
101 145 Bruno Tourette Palo Verde Velo 35+ 41:58 6.35 2874 81.71
102 403 Bernard Bell   50+ 41:59 6.35 2873 81.68
103 65 Greg Finley   30+ 42:40 6.24 2827 80.37
104 124 Dave Rossow Western Wheelers 40+ 42:49 6.22 2817 80.09
105 39 Kley Cardona Alberto's Steak House 50+ 42:56 6.20 2809 79.87
106 204 Brian Birkeland Alameda Velo 45+ 44:10 6.03 2731 77.64
107 68 Stephen Fong San Jose Bike Club 5 44:58 5.92 2682 76.26
108 247 Ronald Ng ADO Gang 45+ 44:58 5.92 2682 76.26
109 36 Rich Brunner Santa Clara 40+ 45:32 5.85 2649 75.31
110 327 Thomas Maslen Western Wheelers 45+ 45:55 5.80 2626 74.68
111 146 Luis Valente Palo Verde Velo 50+ 46:29 5.73 2594 73.77
112 430 Michael Riepe Webcor/Alto Velo 40+ 46:30 5.73 2594 73.75
113 160 Craig Peters Tradewinds Cycling Team 40+ 46:53 5.68 2572 73.14
114 24 MichaelsJ. Andalora   55+ 47:55 5.56 2517 71.57
115 118 Alec Proudfoot Google 45+ 48:15 5.52 2499 71.07
116 29 Sachin Bhatia   30+ 48:55 5.45 2465 70.10

Women
pl # name team cat time mph fph score
1 214 Kelly Crowley Metromint 31:34 8.44 3820 131.36
2 426 Rikke Preisler The Brown Zone 35+ 33:49 7.88 3566 122.62
3 137 Laura Stern Coretechs Cycling Team 50+ 35:16 7.55 3420 117.58
4 423 Jennie Phillips Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy Tandem-Onium! 35:23 7.53 3408 117.19
5 75 Laura Hipp Western Wheelers 4 38:00 7.01 3174 109.12
6 265 Janet Wagner Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 50+ 46:29 5.73 2594 89.20
7 60 Lisa Emmerich Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 50+ 47:16 5.64 2551 87.73
8 409 Laura Egley Dos Egleys 45+ 48:55 5.45 2465 84.77
9 306 Alison Chaiken Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 45+ 49:42 5.36 2427 83.43

Teams
pl team score riders
1 Low-Key 359.96 Bill Bushnell, Daniel Connelly, Tim Clark
2 Western Wheelers 358.48 Chris Phipps, Rune Dahl, Cieran Byrne, Martin Hyland, Stephen Berg, Gino Cetani, Shance Ordell, Laura Hipp, David Fitch, Dave Rossow, Thomas Maslen
3 The Brown Zone 354.46 McLovin, Dai Sieh, Tick Houk, Denin Sahovic, KP, Rikke Preisler
4 Bike Trip/Symantec 340.47 Mark Edwards, Dan Palmer, Dan Perry, Ken Sato, Tim Sawyer, Nils Tikkanen, Matt Wocasek, Matthew Werner, Mark Boolootian, Detlef Adam
5 Pen Velo/Pomodoro 333.71 Dave Blizard, Brooks Sizemore, John Richardson, Frederick Stamm, Curtis Ruegg
6 Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 332.26 Kevin Keenan, Bill Preucel, Russ McCrary, David Vrane, Jennie Phillips, Bruce Gardner, Michael Williams, Janet Wagner, Lisa Emmerich, Alison Chaiken
7 San Jose Bike Club 332.04 Joe Fant, Joe Sullivan, Jeff Farnsworth, Alan Weatherall, Stephen Fong
8 Dirkless 329.63 Brian Edwards, Steven Enns, Adam Brinkman, Jon Glancy
9 Coretechs Cycling Team 325.28 Tommy "Milktoast" Rice, Laura Stern, Fred Frederson, David Puglia
10 LGBRC 321.68 Rich Hill, Justin Lucke, Will von Kaenel, Tim Irvine
11 Doogie 318.07 Christian Paquet, Rob Cosaro, Jens Weber
12 Eden Bikes 304.78 J.D. Daniels, TOM FERREIRA, Yihua He
13 Alberto's Steak House 294.88 Doug Reynolds, Franz Kelsch, Jim Williams, Vince Cummings, Kley Cardona
14 Google 294.37 Mike Schuster, Philip Clark, Brandon Iles, Jeff Shute, Wink Saville, Alec Proudfoot
15 Palo Verde Velo 242.67 Romain Laboisse, Bruno Tourette, Luis Valente
16 Dolce Vita Cycling 231.00 Jacob Berkman, Chris Furgiuele
17 Diablo 199.79 Andy Crews, Chris Gros-Balthazard
18 Dos Egleys 179.63 Fred Egley, Laura Egley
19 Alameda Velo 170.49 Jon Degenhardt, Brian Birkeland
20 Metromint 131.36 Kelly Crowley
21 Team Colwell 127.72 Tracy Colwell
22 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Specialized 126.15 Harlan H. Chapman
23 Silicon Valley Triathlon 122.84 Steve Peck
24 Team Fremont FFBC p/b Chipotle 119.62 Bill Brier
25 Speedy Bees 115.07 Bennett Chi Lee
26 Marc Pro - Strava 110.26 Paul McKenzie
27 Blekko 104.28 Bryn Dole
28 Atomic Bonk 104.23 Christopher O'Keefe
29 hammer nutrition 101.01 Jimfox
30 Team Rhus 89.38 Richard Contreras
31 Death Valley 88.57 John D Kastel
32 Georgia Tech 88.46 Vinay Ravuri
33 Chain Reaction 85.87 Sam Beal
34 SLACer 85.02 Edward Miller
35 bikeforums.net 83.88 Ramon Ochoa
36 ADO Gang 76.26 Ronald Ng
37 Santa Clara 75.31 Rich Brunner
38 Webcor/Alto Velo 73.75 Michael Riepe
39 Tradewinds Cycling Team 73.14 Craig Peters