Think you're fit? Ride BIG, back-to-back...

One of the best ways to test your fitness level on the bike is to do a couple of long challenging rides, back-to-back.

It’s tough. But as the saying goes, if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger!

The first time I did this, it was by accident. I had ridden a 50 miler maintenance ride on a late May Friday last year, and at the last minute, my buddy Marc said he was up for a ride up and over Ebbetts Pass the next day. Ebbetts Pass is about a 3,000-foot climb at high altitude, and we would surely ride down the other side and back up again.

Well, we did the climb, then the descent down the other side and we kept riding through the valley below. The road eventually turned left and became increasingly tough climbing rollers. Marc said, “This is the road up Pacific Grade, let’s do it.” Problem was, riding up Pacific Grade is a very tough bunch of nasty 26 percent grade switchbacks that won’t quit. I hadn’t known that, but I found out the hard way.

We barely made it to the top, then down a long descent to a lake before we turned around for a lot more climbing. By the end of the ride we’d spent 5 hours in the saddle and climbed 6,500 feet. I was all done at the end. But hey, my fitness helped me through, kept me from bonking.

Recently I did a similar back-to-back, with the same relatively flat 50 miler the first day, then a big climbing ride the very next day with four buddies.

We started at Jackson, one of the Sierra foothill Gold Rush towns, and followed the route blazed by Brian, a guy who rides a lot in the area. Brian promised plenty of climbing, and he delivered. And even though it was a Saturday, the route we took had smooth pavement and very little traffic.

We started about 8:30 a.m. when the air was still cool, but it was definitely going to heat up as the day went on. We climbed steadily on winding road and then descended across Highway 88 to the small town of Volcano. Just before getting to Volcano we rode down what Brian called “The Wall,” a quarter-mile stretch that was accurately named. It has an average gradient of 10.5 percent and its steepest part is 18 percent. Yep, we’d have to climb it to get back. I tried hard not to think about that.

Riding out of Volcano, we climbed a series of challenging, but not overly steep switchbacks called Rams Head Grade up to Daffodil Hill. We then climbed a steady uphill trek along Shake Ridge Road all the way to Highway 88 several miles up from where we’d crossed the trafficky two-laner earlier. That was our turnaround point, at 25 miles.

While it was mostly nice descending on the way back, The Wall loomed. We stopped at Volcano, ate jerky, drank water, Cokes and Gatorade, ate electrolytes, took deep breaths and took off.

The Wall soon had all of us in pain and suffering management. Its steepest part, about three quarters of the way up when you’re really starting to feel it, made us traverse the quiet two-lane road to maintain some semblance of upward movement. Not fun when a couple of oncoming cars made for a scramble to the right.

When I got to the top, I relaxed, but forgot to keep pedaling. My bike stopped and tipped over, I fell off, unable to pull my foot out of my clip-in pedal. Hate it when that happens.

But when we all had a few minutes to get our lungs and heart rates calmed down, we took off again, with Brian promising all we had left was the short climb on Highway 88, then a few rollers. Oh yes, good, that was nice to hear.

After climbing The Wall, though, I noticed my mind had flipped to stupid. It was like what happens to divers or mountaintop climbers that are low on oxygen and feel their reactions become molasses-like. They call it the “cocktail effect.” It is when, due to fatigue, your brain suddenly turns to guacamole.

I was in my highest gear flying down a descent that quickly turned into a long but gradual uphill that had escaped my attention. I was way late to shift into a low gear, and was suddenly nearly stopped, almost unable to pedal. The awareness of the need to regularly shift with changing gradients had already packed its bags and left town.

My guacamole brain made the few rollers Brian had promised on the ride back, all seem like overly difficult climbs. And even though the last few miles were all downhill and fast, I was cooked. It was hot. I really just wanted the ride to be over.

Back at the trucks, a check of the Garmin showed we’d been in the saddle for four hours and change, climbed close to 6,000 feet and ridden 54 miles. We were all in one piece, tired, toasted, happy.

Just like the back-to-back ride last year, it was a major fitness test for me. But glad to report that with good hydration, energy food, electrolytes and stubborn determination, bonking was kept at bay. When a ride like that is finished, no doubt there’s physical and mental exhaustion, but also a lot of satisfaction that you did it. You knocked it out.

If you haven’t, wait til you’re in the best riding shape you can achieve, then give the back-to-back big rides a shot.

You’ll push through to a gratifyingly higher fitness level. And that’s a good feeling.
In the meantime, check out this video on how to easily tell when your chain has stretched enough to warrant replacing it...

Til next time, remember to always strap on a helmet before every ride. Then, don’t forget, keep the rubber side down!

-- Mark Eric Larson

Mark Eric Larson has written two books of essays, "The NERVE...of Some People's Kids," and "Don't Force it, Get a Bigger Hammer. To read, visit: 
http://www.scribd.com/Mark%20Eric%20Larson/shelf
His blog of personal essays is at: http://marksmuzings.blogspot.com/