Conquer The Mountain: Harding TT Race

But then you'd be riding tires that are 200grams heavier than a light 29er tire.....along with rims that are heavier than a middle of the road 29er rim!

 

So?
This setup has never failed me
Besides, see what you can fit on your Cross bike...

"Stop singing!!! It's no wonder you don't have any friends!!" (Shrek)
"Wow, only a true friend would be that truly honest." (Donkey)

 

I have no trouble fitting a 2.1" tire in my cross bike



No offense meant by my comment......just making an observation.

 

Nice!
Of course the recent addition of disk brakes blurs the line somewhat...

Gonna have to do waaaaay better than that to offend me

 

Harding TT: 1:10?

So most people I talk to out there got that "1:10" number on their minds as we climb. Is this really the fast time that the SAW folks are throwing out as a seeding figure for starts?

I'm gonna go for it anyways, just wondering where most the regulars are time-wise, gate to gate.

What's the offical/unofficial accepted record for Harding? Talked to a local and he seemed to remember seeing Landis up there. Manny P? Tinker?

I'm doing it 1:20'sh now and am curious to see what fast people knock this off at. 45 mins. seems pretty doable if your fit and know where to cut those corners amidst all the scree.

How many of you guys in the 60-69 age group? We need 5 riders for an offical "age group." Who's in?

 

Here you go:

http://app.strava.com/segments/788733

 

45 Minutes isn't really "doable". Floyd Landis is the only guy I know who's gone under 50 minutes (48min) back when he was racing MTB's.

 

I told my friend Cameron about this TT and he says he's done in 53 minutes and I belive him , Why ? Cause he's won VQ 5 times tjats good enough for me

45 min clean ?

 

Since it's an uphill time trial and there's no concern for the descent, it opens up the possibility of riding an extremely light bike. All you really need is appropriate gearing and ultralight wheels and tires to provide a little traction and handle the short downhill sections. I don't even think you have to ride back down and could presumably have a support vehicle take you down Maple Springs.

 

I don't care how many testosterone patches you use, Nobody is making that climb in 45 mins. No Way.

 

No one in this particular event likely will, but I don't think anyone could/should say Never--as in it would be impossible, if that's what you were saying.

There are lots of climbs as long and hard as Harding, or with even steeper avg gradients, and which exceptional pro road riders have gone up in under 45 minutes. Those are paved roads on featherweight road bikes, but I wouldn't think that one of them couldn't do Harding in 45 minutes or less.

Alpe d'Huez, for instance, is about 8.7 miles long and has an average gradient of 7.9%, and all of 36 fastest times posted were 48 minutes or less. Greg Lemond was 48:00 in 1986 and Marco Pantani was 37:35 in 1997.

We're not likely to see Tour de France riders on Harding anytime soon though, for this event or for any other reason. It sure would be amazing to see though.

It will be interesting to see what the event does, if anything, to the Strava times. I know one thing for sure and that's a lot of people will achieve faster times than my fastest time on Harding, so I'll enjoy my placement (below average) for now--while it lasts!

 

No downhill? I see a lot of potential for hilarious wt. weenieness.

Removal of rear brake and rear rotor.
Rotors with 3 bolts only
Removal of grips
SSpeeds with no seat/seatposts
29ers with road tires
Probably a lot of 1x9/10 setups

Of course no one will be packing any spare tools/tubes of any kind.

Timmay, are you out there? Perhaps you should roll the Mankini for some clothing weight weenieness.

 

I can certainly see an advantage there...get out front right off the bat, and no one is going to want to get close enough to pass!

 

He was 20 when he did it and fresh off the farm from Lancaster, Pa. so ya, clean.

 

Ya, that's the stuff. Already beggin' around for a carbon bike for the day.

 

Actually shouldn't be too difficult for a World Class cyclist. The part that would freak you out is watching them do it in their big ring. The difference between "world Class" and top regional racer is miles apart. Alberto Contador at peak fitness generates about 6.5w/kg @ threshold, the guys on Strava at an hour are probably around 4w/kg.

 

Actually Floyd Landis used to live around here before he was a roadie and would train on Harding. I believe his times were around 55mins.

 

I talked to him the day he did it in 48 minutes. Him and Horner have also done Palomar in 45 minutes.

 

Pre or Post doping? ;-)

 

Anyone found the link that, supposedly, lists registered participants?

E-mailed SAW and haven't heard from them yet.