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Mix Canyon Road

Week 6 of the 2011 Low-Key Hillclimb Series

Real men ride 130 mm BCD cranks (Cara Coburn)

Photos

• Cara Coburn
• Lisa Penzel
• Bill Bushnell
• Jon Degenhardt

Report

Week 6 of the 2011 Low-Key Hillclimbs was a week for conquering new territory.

For the first time, Low-Key ventured east of the Bay area, to Vacaville. It wasn't a trip taken arbitrarily. We were there for a reason. We were there to tackle arguably the most challenging continuous climb this side of the Eastern Sierra. We were there for Mix Canyon Road.

To increase the attraction we added an encore: nearby Gates Canyon Road, while providing less total climbing than Mix, nevertheless delivers some truly inhumane grades, steeper even in places than what Mix offers. The two climbs add up to the Diabolical Duo Strava Challege, a one-two combination only the truly twisted would accept, we anticipated. But the truly twisted are in no small supply here, and we had plenty of takers. Gates Canyon, however, wasn't the focus for today. The focus was on Mix Canyon.

Last week summer finally ended in Low-Key Land. But Saturday morning provided a gap in the rain, so while the air was cool at least it was dry. 55 riders thus, voluntarily, delivered themselves to these outskirts of Vacaville, delivered them to Mount Vaca which guaranteed so much pain.

I mentioned to coordinator Barry how this climb didn't seem to have that much more steepness than week 4. A pause, a knowing smile, and "you'll see..."

At the start, results coordinate Howard hit the car horn to mark the start. Bill Bushnell in his hybrid-electric super-bike, was gone, setting his own tempo. For the rest of us the pace at the head of the pack was brisk, for sure, but certainly not super-fast. Who could blame us? Few of us really knew what awaited. Every pedal stroke took us close to depths of pain we couldn't predict.

But then: a sharp attack up the left side of the roadway. Robert Pasc... I mean Emilio Barzini shot up the road. All eyes turned to Phipps: Chris Phipps, the super-favorite, so far undefeated in Low-Key Hillclimbs, would surely respond. But Chris kept a steady tempo. Emilio Barzini? Surely we'd be seeing him again soon enough.

But "Emilio" was gone, to be seen again only at the finish. Soon after Emilio's departure, the road began to steepen, fracturing the group. Chris Phipps led the chase with Carl Nielson following.

After the road steeped even further, we hit the chalk mark coordinator Barry had placed earlier in the morning to mark the beginning of the "steep" portion. What we'd just been through had simply been the preview.

You had to laugh when the road shown on the week 6 description page came into view. Absurdly tight switchbacks at an absurdly steep grade. And when they were done, the road straighted, but remained steep.

Finally relief: a switchback. The end of the steep climbing, perhaps? A photographer in the corner...

No, silly people. The final run to the finish. Steeper even than what preceded. So cruel... so cruel....

But like all climbs, this one eventually came to an end. And as riders arrived at the finish mostly solo, occasionally in groups of two only, you could see the mixture of trauma and relief on their faces. The climb had taken its toll...

We had two women this week: Janet Martinez and Holly Harris. Both women rode well, scoring well above 100 points.

One thing you can predict at Low-Keys: the steeper the climb, the more likely it is to attract Gary "The" Gellin, a fast climber on the bike but not much slower on foot. Gary, this year fresh off his excellent result in a 100-mile trail race, finished an impressive 33rd place in a field of strong climbers, averaging 8:13 miles all the way. Gary really came into his own as the road got steeper, falling to the back of the field at the start but picking off riders one by one approaching the top.

Another, unintentional runner: Andy Crews' chain broke, and he tossed off his shoes and ran the rest of the way to the summit in his socks, still finishing well.

Enormous thanks to coordinator Barry and to our volunteers today for making this road-trip climb come off so well! Barry's special efforts to mark the course, and his special prizes for finishers were super-appreciated by all. It's a bit cliched, but surely everyone who finished today's climb felt justifiable pride in their accomplishment. It's the selfless work of the coordinators and volunteers which makes this possible.

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	19:30	15.11	6945	115.82

Men

pl	#	name	team	cat	time	mph	fph	score
1	600	Emilio Barzini	Rush Racing/Reparto Corsa	U25	27:56	10.55	4848	130.73
2	424	Chris Phipps	Western Wheelers	1	29:01	10.15	4667	125.85
3	248	Carl Nielson	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	M50+	29:20	10.04	4617	124.49
4	1	Daniel Connelly	Low-Key	3	30:08	9.78	4494	121.18
5	404	Jacob Berkman	Dolce Vita Cycling	30+	30:53	9.54	4385	118.24
6	33	Bill Brier	Team Fremont FFBC p/b Chipotle	45+	31:18	9.41	4327	116.67
7	114	Steve Peck	Western Wheelers	45+	31:44	9.28	4267	115.07
8	510	Clark Foy	San Jose Bike Club	45+	31:49	9.26	4256	114.77
9	44	Tim Clark	Low-Key	40+	31:52	9.24	4250	114.59
10	337	Ammon Skidmore	Low-Key	35+	32:05	9.18	4221	113.82
11	226	Tom Gardin	Western Wheelers	45+	32:08	9.17	4214	113.64
12	106	McLovin	The Brown Zone	1	32:27	9.08	4173	112.53
13	25	M. Appelman	Dolce Vita Cycling	40+	32:27	9.08	4173	112.53
14	53	J.D. Daniels	Eden Bikes	35+	33:50	8.71	4003	107.93
15	240	Paul McKenzie	Marc Pro - Strava	55+	34:22	8.57	3940	106.26
16	79	Jared Hudson	Mission Cycling	30+	34:24	8.56	3937	106.15
17	611	Ron LeBard	Victory Velo	60+	34:25	8.56	3935	106.10
18	602	Chris Heisterkamp		35+	34:33	8.53	3920	105.69
19	133	Dai Sieh	The Brown Zone	Robusto	34:46	8.47	3895	105.03
20	78	Tick Houk	The Brown Zone	50+	34:55	8.44	3878	104.58
21	528	Daryl Spano	San Jose Bike Club	45+	35:17	8.35	3838	103.50
22	64	TOM FERREIRA	Eden Bikes	45+	35:28	8.31	3818	102.96
23	122	Doug Reynolds	Alberto's Steak House	60+	36:01	8.18	3760	101.39
24	213	Andy Crews	Diablo	40+	36:11	8.14	3743	100.92M
25	105	Russ McCrary	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	50+	36:30	8.07	3710	100.05
26	124	Dave Rossow	Western Wheelers	40+	36:32	8.06	3707	99.95
27	127	Naoto Sato		45+	36:59	7.97	3662	98.74
28	246	Clark M. Natwick	Pen Velo/Pomodoro	50+	37:21	7.89	3626	97.77M
29	117	Bill Preucel	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	45+	37:22	7.88	3624	97.73
30	70	Bruce Gardner	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	40+	37:25	7.87	3619	97.59
31	267	Alan Weatherall	San Jose Bike Club		37:43	7.81	3590	96.82
32	211	Philip Clark	Google	25+	37:58	7.76	3567	96.18
33	601	Gary Gellin	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	Runner	37:59	7.76	3565	96.14R
34	315	Chris Gros-Balthazard	Diablo	35+	39:06	7.53	3463	93.39
35	215	Vince Cummings	Alberto's Steak House	50+	39:19	7.49	3444	92.88
36	153	Jim Williams	Alberto's Steak House	60+	39:33	7.45	3424	92.33
37	232	Franz Kelsch	Alberto's Steak House	60+	40:36	7.26	3335	89.94
38	436	Michael Williams	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	40+	40:49	7.22	3318	89.47
39	81	Brandon Iles	Google	25+	41:01	7.18	3302	89.03
40	145	Bruno Tourette	Palo Verde Velo	35+	41:11	7.15	3288	88.67
41	51	Richard Contreras	Team Rhus	50+	41:23	7.12	3272	88.24
42	7	James Porter	Western Wheelers	3	41:44	7.06	3245	87.50M
43	38	Patrick Callahan	Buttered Muffins	40+	42:08	6.99	3214	86.67
44	317	Yihua He	Eden Bikes	7	43:32	6.77	3111	83.88
45	508	Bernar Demai		60+	43:58	6.70	3080	83.06
46	604	Martin Koran	SBRC	30+	44:31	6.62	3042	82.03
47	28	Jan Berka		45+	45:54	6.42	2950	79.56
48	146	Luis Valente	Palo Verde Velo	50+	53:40	5.49	2523	68.04
49	46	Kevin Colagiovanni	Team DUD	25+	54:05	5.45	2504	67.52
50	118	Alec Proudfoot	Google	45+	56:43	5.19	2388	64.38
51	612	Daniel Sullivan	Grass Roots Racing	45+	57:29	5.12	2356	63.53
52	608	Scotty Morrison	Grass Roots Racing	Clydesdale	57:38	5.11	2350	63.36
53	29	Sachin Bhatia		30+	57:49	5.10	2342	63.16

Women

pl	#	name	team	cat	time	mph	fph	score
1	8	Janet Martinez	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	40+	40:56	7.20	3308	107.87
2	271	Holly Harris	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	45+	43:21	6.80	3124	101.86

Teams

pl	team	score	riders
1	Western Wheelers	354.56	Chris Phipps, Steve Peck, Tom Gardin, Dave Rossow, James Porter
2	Low-Key	351.59	Bill Bushnell, Daniel Connelly, Tim Clark, Ammon Skidmore
3	Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy	334.22	Carl Nielson, Russ McCrary, Bill Preucel, Bruce Gardner, Gary Gellin, Michael Williams, Janet Martinez, Holly Harris
4	The Brown Zone	322.15	McLovin, Dai Sieh, Tick Houk
5	San Jose Bike Club	315.09	Clark Foy, Daryl Spano, Alan Weatherall
6	Eden Bikes	294.77	J.D. Daniels, TOM FERREIRA, Yihua He
7	Alberto's Steak House	286.60	Doug Reynolds, Vince Cummings, Jim Williams, Franz Kelsch
8	Google	249.59	Philip Clark, Brandon Iles, Alec Proudfoot
9	Dolce Vita Cycling	230.77	Jacob Berkman, M. Appelman
10	Diablo	194.31	Andy Crews, Chris Gros-Balthazard
11	Palo Verde Velo	156.71	Bruno Tourette, Luis Valente
12	Rush Racing/Reparto Corsa	130.73	Emilio Barzini
13	Grass Roots Racing	126.89	Daniel Sullivan, Scotty Morrison
14	Team Fremont FFBC p/b Chipotle	116.67	Bill Brier
15	Marc Pro - Strava	106.26	Paul McKenzie
16	Mission Cycling	106.15	Jared Hudson
17	Victory Velo	106.10	Ron LeBard
18	Pen Velo/Pomodoro	97.77	Clark M. Natwick
19	Team Rhus	88.24	Richard Contreras
20	Buttered Muffins	86.67	Patrick Callahan
21	SBRC	82.03	Martin Koran
22	Team DUD	67.52	Kevin Colagiovanni