[ibmkidIII]

Least that's what I think everytime I climb Flag. Those who can suffer the best can climb it the fastest. I suffered bad, but could have done more. First 2/3rds I was spinnning at 9mph or so most of the time which is great for me. Then I hit that last 1/3rd and it just ***** slapped me. 2mph out of the saddle, grinding away to the mailboxes.

43:28, about 1:30 off my fastest time.

Sorry for the road content, but WTF, it's all I could do this week. Nice to be out on the two chain rings.

For those who don't know, Flagstaff mtn.Rd. is in Boulder and gains about 2000 ft in just under 5 miles.

 

[preparation_h]

Coach Troy(Spinervals) says.....
"Suffer-O-Rama - Let's face it. In order to become a faster cyclist, you have to endure discomfort in training and racing. In other words, you have to learn how to suffer!! Spinervals 3.0 - Suffer-o-Rama, will teach you how to suffer on the bike with 45 minutes of explosive power sprints and highly anaerobic sets. Brutal, but soooo effective!"

 

[Debaser]

Ah, training...

43:28, about 1:30 off my fastest time.

I "used" to have a couple routes I would time myself on. Don't seem to have those anymore, though. I like riding Flagstaff - to the first permit station is pretty tough, then pretty easy til those top switchbacks. But I don't like the traffic, so I don't ride it that often.

Last time I rode it on the hardtail. I'm still way more comfortable on my mountain bike than any road bike. But I need to ride it on the new road bike soon.

 

[DWF]

I "used" to have a couple routes I would time myself on. Don't seem to have those anymore, though. I like riding Flagstaff - to the first permit station is pretty tough, then pretty easy til those top switchbacks. But I don't like the traffic, so I don't ride it that often.

Last time I rode it on the hardtail. I'm still way more comfortable on my mountain bike than any road bike. But I need to ride it on the new road bike soon.

I used to use Waterton/Rox Loop for this as it was/is a great MTB training ride. My best was 1hr, 7min for the whole loop*. I'd probably be lucky to make it in 1:30 now.

edit: of course this was almost 10-years ago....I hate getting old.

 

[kitchenware]

Too many slowass cars on Flag. I used to ride it from time to time on the mtnbike, but it's really too dangerous. My perception of speed switches off when I go down that... not good.

 

[Debaser]

Too many slowass cars on Flag. I used to ride it from time to time on the mtnbike, but it's really too dangerous. My perception of speed switches off when I go down that... not good.

Buddy of mine, Cat2 racer, was coming down and had a little accident in a corner. Collarbone, wrist, lingering hesitation on descents... I can't help but think of it everytime I ride there.

 

[titusguy]

Least that's what I think everytime I climb Flag. Those who can suffer the best can climb it the fastest. I suffered bad, but could have done more. First 2/3rds I was spinnning at 9mph or so most of the time which is great for me. Then I hit that last 1/3rd and it just ***** slapped me. 2mph out of the saddle, grinding away to the mailboxes.
Doing a century tomorrow on the roadbike. Hoping for a sub 5 hour time. That's suffering.
Shut up.

 

[ibmkidIII]

$hit man...I'm flattered. You took the time to honor me with your avatar sig. sniff sniff. I think I'm gonna cry.

 

[rapwithtom]

Starting Where?

My buddies and I always start from Eben Fine Park, at the West End of the Park where the "Meet Point" is. From there to the mailboxes. My best: 0:56, but I'm old and fat.

 

[ibmkidIII]

Huh? Eben G. Fine is between Arapahoe and Canyon (right next to where pearl comes in at). Doesn't make sense in my little world to use that as a starting point for Flagstaff Rd./Baseline. The official starting point (from what I've gathered) for "Super Flag" as I've heard it called is from the "Enter Boulder Mountain Parks" sign at the base, just before baseline turns into flagstaff road (maybe 75yds before gregory canyon turn off). Then up to the mailboxes...I actually rode to the end of the pavement, but only timed myself to the mailboxes.
Did you mean Chataqua (sp?) park instead of Eben G. Fine? If ya didn't, off hand I'd say your 56 is much faster than me.....and FWIW I've definetly done it recently where I was happy to make it under 60.

 

[rapwithtom]

re: Eben Fine

I always start at Eben Fine for 2 reasons:

a) is the lowest spot around, making Flagstaff that much bigger. Just ride up 6th Street to Baseline/Flagstaff. It adds (for me) 7-9 minutes up to your start. That makes my fastest time ever for your start somewhere around 49:00. (By the way, on that day I was passed like I was standing still by an old guy on a shitty old bike wearing a t-shirt and tennis shoes and levi's - not shorts but pants!)

b) it's close to my house.

 

[LeeMan]

Watch out for deer! (and a finger story)

Least that's what I think everytime I climb Flag. Those who can suffer the best can climb it the fastest. I suffered bad, but could have done more. First 2/3rds I was spinnning at 9mph or so most of the time which is great for me. Then I hit that last 1/3rd and it just ***** slapped me. 2mph out of the saddle, grinding away to the mailboxes.

43:28, about 1:30 off my fastest time.

Sorry for the road content, but WTF, it's all I could do this week. Nice to be out on the two chain rings.

For those who don't know, Flagstaff mtn.Rd. is in Boulder and gains about 2000 ft in just under 5 miles.

Just a warning, based on a true story ...

I was driving down Flagstaff one day after, riding at Walker. As I caught up to a rode biker in the upper switch backs, a deer darted out from the woods, and the biker hit him dead on. A perfect T-bone! :-(

There's no place to park there, so I put on my emergency signals, parked the car, and got out to see if he was okay.

His T-boning had nocked the deer down, and it flew a few feet and slid to a stop before scrambling up and running away (apparently unharmed!). The got wasn't so lucky. He got up, but was visibly shaken. Nothing was broken, but he seemed to have a concussion to me, in retrospect. At the time, I offered him a ride, but he repeatedly refused. (Probably not thinking clearly.) I drove away.

BTW, my friend Phil was driving behind me. When he saw my car's emergency flashers, and me helping a rider up, he though I'd hit him!

Lastly, I've attempted super-walker a couple of times, but each time something happened. Last time, Cole and I attempted it from way out in East Boulder (where I work). After having to stop to double back to a bike shop to fix a problem with Cole's bike, we headed up. Long, hot climb, with Cole kicking my a$$. Then we get to the back entrance to Meyer's gulch. I usually like to take this right, then go through Meyer's on the way to Walker.

As we bombed down the road in Meyer's (there were no other people there that day), we came across a simple muddy area. I was gonna jump it, but as we approached, it looked too wide, so I slowed down. I was just gonna roll through it, and get a little muddy -- no big deal.

But when my front tire got about to the middle of the muddy area, it stuck like glue. My momentum, however, continued. I was going OTB.

No big deal, but when I hit, I put both hands out. Bad idea, I guess, as my right hand hit just enough resistance to dislocate my right pinky finger.

Don't get me wrong -- it looked broken. I looked down and saw the finger bend at an unnatural 45 degrees to the right. I guess it was dislocated, since that's happend to me once before (and it didn't hurt). I vowed to try to fix it myself if it ever happened again (since the emergency room charges hundreds and ends up just straightening the thing!).

I grapped the little pinky with my left hand, and pulled and straightened. It didn't hurt, but Cole said it almost made him sick. But it still wasn't right, after all that trouble. (But at least it wasn't sideways any more!)

Cole and I rode all the way back to East Arapahoe, and then he followed me home. I had lunch and a beer before heading to the emergency room for the inevitable 6-hour visit. (The only part that really hurts is the shots they give me to numb the pain I'd otherwise feel. Oh yeah, and after the shots wear off, I was glad I had some drugs to put me to sleep!)

 

[LeeMan]

A deer story and a finger story ...

Least that's what I think everytime I climb Flag. Those who can suffer the best can climb it the fastest. I suffered bad, but could have done more. First 2/3rds I was spinnning at 9mph or so most of the time which is great for me. Then I hit that last 1/3rd and it just ***** slapped me. 2mph out of the saddle, grinding away to the mailboxes.

43:28, about 1:30 off my fastest time.

Sorry for the road content, but WTF, it's all I could do this week. Nice to be out on the two chain rings.

For those who don't know, Flagstaff mtn.Rd. is in Boulder and gains about 2000 ft in just under 5 miles.

Just a warning, based on a true story ...

I was driving down Flagstaff one day, after riding at Walker. As I caught up to a road biker in the upper switch backs, a deer darted out from the woods, and the biker hit him dead on. A perfect T-bone! :-(

There's no place to park there, so I put on my emergency signals, parked the car, and got out to see if he was okay.

His T-boning had nocked the deer down, and it flew a few feet and slid to a stop before scrambling up and running away (apparently unharmed!). The got wasn't so lucky. He got up, but was visibly shaken. Nothing was broken, but he seemed to have a concussion to me, in retrospect. At the time, I offered him a ride, but he repeatedly refused. (Probably not thinking clearly.) I drove away.

BTW, my friend Phil was driving behind me. When he saw my car's emergency flashers, and me helping a rider up, he though I'd hit him!

Lastly, I've attempted super-walker a couple of times, but each time something happened. Last time, Cole and I attempted it from way out in East Boulder (where I work). After having to stop to double back to a bike shop to fix a problem with Cole's bike, we headed up. Long, hot climb, with Cole kicking my a$$. Then we get to the back entrance to Meyer's gulch. I usually like to take this right, then go through Meyer's on the way to Walker.

As we bombed down the road in Meyer's (there were no other people there that day), we came across a simple muddy area. I was gonna jump it, but as we approached, it looked too wide, so I slowed down. I was just gonna roll through it, and get a little muddy -- no big deal.

But when my front tire got about to the middle of the muddy area, it stuck like glue. My momentum, however, continued. I was going OTB.

No big deal, but when I hit, I put both hands out. Bad idea, I guess, as my right hand hit just enough resistance to dislocate my right pinky finger.

Don't get me wrong -- it looked broken. I looked down and saw the finger bend at an unnatural 45 degrees to the right. I guess it was dislocated, since that's happend to me once before (and it didn't hurt). I vowed to try to fix it myself if it ever happened again (since the emergency room charges hundreds and ends up just straightening the thing!).

I grapped the little pinky with my left hand, and pulled and straightened. It didn't hurt, but Cole said it almost made him sick. But it still wasn't right, after all that trouble. (But at least it wasn't sideways any more!)

Cole and I rode all the way back to East Arapahoe, and then he followed me home. I had lunch and a beer before heading to the emergency room for the inevitable 6-hour visit. (The only part that really hurts is the shots they give me to numb the pain I'd otherwise feel. Oh yeah, and after the shots wear off, I was glad I had some drugs to put me to sleep!)