Zachary Hilton
Mt Hamilton Classic Road Race
San Jose, CA to Livermore, CA
Category 35+ 4's Combined with 45+ 4's
Mt Hamilton Classic Road Race
San Jose, CA to Livermore, CA
Category 35+ 4's Combined with 45+ 4's
Place: 16
Field: 22
Teammates: NONE
Field: 22
Teammates: NONE
Weather: 76 sunny
Start Time: 09:20:00 am
Start Time: 09:20:00 am
Total Time: 03:47:00
Power: 195 W avg, 963 W max, 194 W NP
Power: 195 W avg, 963 W max, 194 W NP
Average Speed: 15.9 MPH, Top Speed 39.5 MPH
Average HR: 167 Max HR: 187
Elevation Ascent: 6,388
Elevation Ascent: 6,388
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 carbon tubular 46's with 25mm tires for this race. I follow Hammer Nutrition's Steve Born on many pre-race strategies. I am carrying 3 bottles of Hammer Heed with me, I can grab one bottle of water at the neutral feed support. I tried freezing 2 of the bottles but that only lasted till we reached the summit of Mt Hamilton. It was a warm sunny day!
My goals for this race are to get some intensity for the legs on a mountainous course. This race is going to be challenging no matter what. It's probably the hardest course of the year. A bottle and hour and a Hammer gel every 30 minutes should get me to the end. I'll burn some matches just to see how far I can stay with the lead group. I'd like to stay with the group till we summit Mt Hamilton.
Race starts off neutral and we are combined with the 45+ 4's. We are still a small field of maybe 44. We make the turn onto Mt Hamilton Rd and one guy goes off the front. Pen Velo, CBRE, and Dolce Vita are dominating the fields in the 35+ 4's this season. I am getting to know the racers really well and all I need to do is let them set the pace and follow. They will be battling within each other and I'll sneak in somewhere. The tempo is manageable and I'm sitting around 7-8th. A CBRE guy tries to bridge up to the leader and gets a 10-15 second gap on the field. We catch him within a mile. These are just attacks to wear us down. At 4.5 miles of the first climb it levels off just a bit and I come up to sit 3rd wheel for the second climb at miles 4.5-7.4...the road is narrow now and we are doing switch backs. If you don't know the course, your not sure when the downhill is approaching. That allows you to be up front and set the tempo. At 7.5 miles you descend switch backs for 1.5 miles and then it's a straight away. Be up front and you won't have to chase this down as we string out. The 3rd climb starts around 9.0-12.0 miles in. I'm still with the group and tucked in around 8th wheel. It's a good place to be, and the tempo is harder but I'm holding on and not at my max. We descend together and at mile 13.1 we begin the final 6 mile climb to the summit of Mt. Hamilton. Now is the true test. We are one hour into the race. There were some attacks 2 miles from the top and that made me hurt!!! We were breaking up and I went off the back and had to set my own tempo. I ended up being 6 minutes off from the leaders when they reached the top. I caught 3 Pen Velo riders from the 45+ 4's and stayed with them to the top and descent down the backside. We all agreed that we wanted to stay together through the valley. I wasn't a threat to them, and I took my turns on pulls through the valley. We caught a CBRE guy from the 45+ 4's and now we are 5 guys. I was feeling good but wanted to conserve some energy for miles 37-42. That's where there are two climbs and the first one lingers forever!!! At this point you are begging for something cold to hit you in the face. I have one bottle of water and a bottle of HEED left. Both are luke warm and it's 82 degrees and sunny...no shade back here. Looking back on the data I was going 7 mph as I reached the summit at mile 42...dang I was cooked. There is still 20 miles of rollers left. On a chart it shows that its a downhill for the next 20 miles, but Mines Rd doesn't always feel like that. Race done! As one person stated at the finish line..."Mt Hamilton RR is like a hill climb and then a Gran Fondo after...yep! Thanks to San Jose Bicycle Club for providing all the beverages and food at the finish line. I would have stepped right into a beer garden if I could! I was going to ride back to the start but I hitched a ride with some teammates!
What I learned from this race is that I was more powerful than last year and got PR's all over the course. I still needed to be 6 minutes faster up this climb, while at the same time carrying all the supplies needed to race. Which makes me a lot heavier.
Race starts off neutral and we are combined with the 45+ 4's. We are still a small field of maybe 44. We make the turn onto Mt Hamilton Rd and one guy goes off the front. Pen Velo, CBRE, and Dolce Vita are dominating the fields in the 35+ 4's this season. I am getting to know the racers really well and all I need to do is let them set the pace and follow. They will be battling within each other and I'll sneak in somewhere. The tempo is manageable and I'm sitting around 7-8th. A CBRE guy tries to bridge up to the leader and gets a 10-15 second gap on the field. We catch him within a mile. These are just attacks to wear us down. At 4.5 miles of the first climb it levels off just a bit and I come up to sit 3rd wheel for the second climb at miles 4.5-7.4...the road is narrow now and we are doing switch backs. If you don't know the course, your not sure when the downhill is approaching. That allows you to be up front and set the tempo. At 7.5 miles you descend switch backs for 1.5 miles and then it's a straight away. Be up front and you won't have to chase this down as we string out. The 3rd climb starts around 9.0-12.0 miles in. I'm still with the group and tucked in around 8th wheel. It's a good place to be, and the tempo is harder but I'm holding on and not at my max. We descend together and at mile 13.1 we begin the final 6 mile climb to the summit of Mt. Hamilton. Now is the true test. We are one hour into the race. There were some attacks 2 miles from the top and that made me hurt!!! We were breaking up and I went off the back and had to set my own tempo. I ended up being 6 minutes off from the leaders when they reached the top. I caught 3 Pen Velo riders from the 45+ 4's and stayed with them to the top and descent down the backside. We all agreed that we wanted to stay together through the valley. I wasn't a threat to them, and I took my turns on pulls through the valley. We caught a CBRE guy from the 45+ 4's and now we are 5 guys. I was feeling good but wanted to conserve some energy for miles 37-42. That's where there are two climbs and the first one lingers forever!!! At this point you are begging for something cold to hit you in the face. I have one bottle of water and a bottle of HEED left. Both are luke warm and it's 82 degrees and sunny...no shade back here. Looking back on the data I was going 7 mph as I reached the summit at mile 42...dang I was cooked. There is still 20 miles of rollers left. On a chart it shows that its a downhill for the next 20 miles, but Mines Rd doesn't always feel like that. Race done! As one person stated at the finish line..."Mt Hamilton RR is like a hill climb and then a Gran Fondo after...yep! Thanks to San Jose Bicycle Club for providing all the beverages and food at the finish line. I would have stepped right into a beer garden if I could! I was going to ride back to the start but I hitched a ride with some teammates!
What I learned from this race is that I was more powerful than last year and got PR's all over the course. I still needed to be 6 minutes faster up this climb, while at the same time carrying all the supplies needed to race. Which makes me a lot heavier.
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 Pescadero Road Race June 4th!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks to Hammer Nutrition!
Thanks to SJBC Race Team!
