Zach Hilton Gilroy City Council Member: January 2016

Zachary Hilton
San Bruno Hill Climb

Brisbane, CA
Place: 7
Field: 14
Teammates: Joe Sullivan in the 35+ 1,2,3's (combined groups)

Weather: 42 Sunny and windy

Total Time: 00:19:34
Power: 250 W avg, 605 W max, 267 W NP

Average Speed: 11.3MPH, Top Speed 25.8 MPH

Average HR: 178 Max HR: 187

Elevation Ascent: 1,211 ft

I'm riding a 2015 Specialized S-Works Tarmac with Ultegra 6800 53/39 11 speed group set with an 11/32 for this race. I have a pair for Race Rim Tubular 32's that are perfect for this race. I've been hooked on my current breakfast for a while now. Trader Joe's Multi-Grain oatmeal cooked in egg whites, peanut butter, berries, and maple syrup. Be sure to eat that no less than 3 hours prior to your race. I follow Hammer Nutrition's Steve Born on many pre-race strategies. Yum and full of energy to start race day right.

My goals for this race are to get some great quality racing for the legs in a short distance and power climbing race. This race is a rush to the system. We will be combined again with the 35+ 1,2,3's. That group will push me! I'd also like to go sub 19 minutes if possible. Burn all your matches by the top. This race is over quick.

I'm wearing a speed suit from Zaavy with arm warmers. It's a cold start. Thanks to Pen Velo for sagging up warm clothes to the top for each racer! Not a very big group to line up with. There are some top racers in the district with me. The whistle blows and we are off. Immediately we turn left into a climb. The pace is good but I'm way over my FTP this time of year. Luckily I can hold this for about 2 miles, and then my body will force me to back off. At mile two I start to fall back and kept my eye on 3 from my group that are starting to fall back also. We dropped several in that initial climb. It pays to burn those matches early. Before we turn into the County Park I caught 1 rider. He took the turn to wide and fell off course. I could hear another rider come up from behind me as approached the bumpy roads to the final 1.5 miles of the race. I settled into a good tempo as I was trying to catch two other riders from the group. On hill climbs it's important not to always stay on the shoulder of the road on switchbacks. See the road as straight line. You'd be surprised how easy it is to catch someone as you are hugging the center line and they stray all the way to the right! I caught my final two and no on else was in site. The wind was cold and howling now near the top with 1 mile to go. I got as aero as possible and tried to keep my power up. My legs felt great but my heart just wasn't allowing any extra beats. I felt like I could push harder but then my heart would pound out my chest!!! I'm guessing my cardio is just not there yet. With 200 meters to go I had one guy about 100 meters behind me trying to catch up. I finished the first race of the season!

I was overall pleased with my performance. My cardio will come overtime. My normalized power was up from doing this race 2 years ago. This was my second best time at SBHC. I'm glad not to be sick this year also.

I took off my water bottle cages. There is no time to drink or eat in this race. I took a Hammer gel about 20 minutes prior to the start. Time to recover with Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite and get a good night sleep. Don't forget to recover during your sleep and take some Hammer Whey to boost that HGH. I've also added Hammer Nutrition's Chromate, and Super Antioxidant to the recovery mix. Both have great recovery ingredients!

Next race will be SJBC Winter Series RR (Uvas Reservior) on January 17!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks to Hammer Nutrition!

Thanks to Nature's Bakery!
Thanks to RaceRim!
Thanks to iRC Tire USA!

Thanks to SJBC Race Team!