# Low Key Hillclimbs are here!



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

This is the coolest series ever. Nine hillclimbs with only $10 donation each climb.

http://lowkey.djconnel.com/2009/

The Schedule

week	date	time	climb	format	coordinator	results
1	03 Oct 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Montebello	mass start	Dan Connelly 
2	10 Oct 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	OLH	small groups	Dan Connelly 
3	17 Oct 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Tunitas Creek-Star Hill-Swett	mass start	Barry Burr 
4	24 Oct 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Soda Springs	mass start	please volunteer! 
5	31 Oct 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Montevina	mass start	please volunteer! 
6	07 Nov 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Bohlman-Norton-Kittridge-Quickert-
On Orbit-Bohlman	mass start	James Porter 
7	14 Nov 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Mount Diablo (N)	time trial	Lucia Mokres 
8	21 Nov 2009	reg 9:15 - 10:00
start 10:10am	Alba Road	time trial	Pat Parseghian 
9	26 Nov 2009	reg 8:30-9:20
start 9:30am	Mt Hamilton	mass start	Kevin Winterfield


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## rj2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Do you want to ride there from your house? What time should I be there? I finally have a lightish bike. 13.66 lbs. with the 38mm tubulars.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

good morning. it's time to climb montebello!
fc


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## twain (May 18, 2004)

Bummer that they are on Saturdays.
I have to ref Lily's AYSO games every Saturday until Nov 14. 
Bummer!


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Hillclimb report!

I haven't been on the roadie bike in a while and I'm 8 lbs heavier than last year. But I heard that this race was on a few days ago so there's no time like the present to start climbing.

Richard aka Mr. Trigon aka RJ2 passed by house at 8am and we rode out to the venue together. The climb is Montebello Road and it's right by Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino. It climbs up about 1800 feet in 6 miles and ends at the end of the road where the fireroad starts to Black Mountain trail.

So RJ2 and I warmed up together and it was not pleasant. The hill just starts out so steep and I did not like the bike, the hill or the pavement. But that's how it goes. So we descend back down and we see Clark Foy (Kings of Kennedy winner) Gary aka Gshock, Vince aka Portola Vince and Jerrick. There's about 130 people out there and that is cool!!

The gun goes off and I'm mid-pack. I feel pretty good so I work my way up to about 40th spot and crank it up on the 13% grades at the beginning. It was all good except I was in my lowest gear. Every two minutes, I would try to shift down to see if a magic gear appeared but it was to no avail. At least I wasn't on a fixie track bike! Like this Roaring Mouse dude Ben in front of me.

Then a hybrid bike passed me. Then an old man passed me and he had a bike rack and gym shorts. Portola Vince came by and said we need to get a bike rack to get fast. At the halfway point, the climb leveled off and I wanted to quit. This is normal for me though and I usually just decelerate a lot. Gshock came by and gave me a tow for a while but I was pegged just trying to hang on the flattish part.

When the road pitched up again, I pulled the rip cord and it was time to go in survival mode. The last 10 minutes was just painful as rider after rider passed me and I couldn't hang on. Anyway, I saw the finish line so I sprinted and crushed a couple mountain bikers and really old guys.

36:29 they said. Well I'm really happy about that since I pulled a good time out of a hat. Last year was much better for me but that was another time. Gary was at 34+ and Richard at 39+. What's up with the winner at 26 minutes? It must be cool to fly up that fast.

Ok, I'll start training for the next Low Keys... after my pint of Haaaagen Daz and my IPA and salt and vinegar chips!

fc

RESULTS:
__________



Men

median time = 35:31

pl # rider team category time mph fph score
1 66 Christopher Phipps Western Wheelers 35+ 26:03 12.21 4468 136.34
2 40 Justin Lucke LGBRC 35+ 27:27 11.58 4240 129.39
3 196 Dominic Pezzoni 20-24 27:57 11.38 4165 127.07
4 49 Eric Balfus LGBRC 27:59 11.36 4160 126.92
5 93 Thomas Novikoff Webcor/Alto Velo 2 28:35 11.13 4072 124.26
6 28 Ciaran Byrne 28:35 11.13 4072 124.26
7 201 Rune Dahl Western Wheelers 45+ 28:53 11.01 4030 122.97
8 101 Mark Edwards Team Bike Trip 45+ 28:55 11.00 4025 122.82
9 156 Rich Hill LGBRC 40+ 28:59 10.97 4016 122.54
10 32 Nils Tikkanen Team Bike Trip 3 29:03 10.95 4007 122.26
11 58 Clark Foy Metrigear 45+ 29:07 10.92 3998 121.98
12 71 Greg McQuaid San Jose Bike Club 35+ 29:09 10.91 3993 121.84
13 151 Doug Philippone Palantir 35+ 29:37 10.74 3930 119.92
14 139 Laurent Pfertzel 45+ 29:38 10.73 3928 119.85
15 7 James Porter Low-Key 29:41 10.71 3921 119.65
16 80 Bill Davis Google 25-29 29:55 10.63 3891 118.72
17 110 Shon Grabbe San Jose Bike Club 35+ 30:05 10.57 3869 118.06
18 170 Raffi Jilizian Form Fitness 40+ 30:09 10.55 3861 117.80
19 23 Ron Brunner Low Key Commuter 30:21 10.48 3835 117.02
20 30 Jason Buter Sisters of No Mercy 30+ 30:37 10.39 3802 116.00
21 98 Bruce Gardner Sisters of No Mercy 30:43 10.35 3789 115.63
22 129 Ammon Skidmore Team Roaring Mouse 30+ 30:53 10.30 3769 115.00
23 25 Carl Butler Sisters of No Mercy 50+ 31:31 10.09 3693 112.69
24 33 Martin Hyland Western Wheelers 50+ 31:33 10.08 3689 112.57
25 120 Peter Mehlitz 45+ 31:53 9.97 3651 111.40
26 144 Andy Brisnehan 50+ 32:09 9.89 3621 110.47
27 53 Jim Langley Team Bike Trip 55+ 32:15 9.86 3609 110.13
28 44 Michael Chasse Bike Dads 45+ 32:19 9.84 3602 109.90
29 74 Benoit Relczar Team Bike Trip 35+ 32:34 9.76 3574 109.06
30 45 Sean Broeder Silicon Valley Triathlon 45+ 32:39 9.74 3565 108.78
31 94 Nathan Cauffman UID 30+ 32:39 9.74 3565 108.78
32 161 Mike Salameh 55+ 32:55 9.66 3536 107.90
33 48 Sharad Verma Commuter 32:59 9.64 3529 107.68
34 31 Wolfgang Hoeflich 45+ 33:01 9.63 3525 107.57
35 42 Nick Pelly Google 33:13 9.57 3504 106.92
36 59 Scott Martin Team Bike Trip 50+ 33:39 9.45 3459 105.55
37 24 Dennis Pederson Team Bike Trip 45+ 33:43 9.43 3452 105.34
38 115 Martin Hampton Pen Velo/Kondra 45+ 33:47 9.41 3445 105.13
39 145 Vidya Swaminathan UC Davis 30+ 33:47 9.41 3445 105.13
40 78 Brian Sterling 33:51 9.39 3439 104.92
41 150 Daniel Talayco Two wheel tango Goat Ibex 34:05 9.33 3415 104.21
42 79 Gino Centani Western Wheelers 35+ 34:06 9.33 3413 104.15
43 43 Joseph Sullivan 36+ 34:06 9.33 3413 104.15
44 83 Rand Hiu 34:06 9.33 3413 104.15
45 136 Ford Egley 45+ 34:23 9.25 3385 103.30
46 88 Jeff Loutit 34:25 9.24 3382 103.20
47 141 Franz Kelsch UltraCycling.net 60+ 34:29 9.22 3376 103.00
48 140 Gary Shockey 35+ 34:39 9.18 3359 102.50
49 56 David Vrane Team Rwanda 45+ 34:57 9.10 3330 101.62
50 26 Ben Stern Team Roaring Mouse 30+/Fixed 35:09 9.05 3312 101.04
51 124 Frederick Stamm Pen Velo/Kondra 55+ 35:10 9.04 3310 101.00
52 73 Vince Cummings 35:17 9.01 3299 100.66
53 109 Shance Ordell Western Wheelers 35+ 35:31 8.95 3277 100.00
54 180 Dan Brehmer SLACer 40+ 35:33 8.95 3274 99.91
55 114 Andre Swart Ryro Junior 35:33 8.95 3274 99.91
56 146 William Von Kaenel LGBRC 50+ 35:59 8.84 3235 98.70
57 29 Thomas Rabedeau SLACer 50+ 36:01 8.83 3232 98.61
58 111 Gary Griffin Team Bike Trip 55+ 36:13 8.78 3214 98.07
59 176 Amit Weiss LGBRC 35+ 36:23 8.74 3199 97.62
60 81 Francis Cebedo MTBR.com 40+ 36:29 8.72 3190 97.35
61 75 Dan Cervelli Palantir 36:35 8.69 3182 97.08
62 181 Dirk Rohloff Plus3/Fightin' Bobas 50+ 36:41 8.67 3173 96.82
63 85 John Carrino Palantir 25-29 37:01 8.59 3145 95.95
64 103 Christopher Pistor 37:09 8.56 3133 95.60
65 35 Stephen Fong San Jose Bike Club 40+ 37:21 8.51 3116 95.09
66 160 Mike Czepiel Apple 25-29 37:21 8.51 3116 95.09
67 69 Nic Brummell Atlas 45+ 37:47 8.42 3081 94.00
68 216 Steve Blain Friends of Janet 55+ 37:51 8.40 3075 93.84
69 70 Garry Chinn Silicon Valley Triathlon 37:55 8.39 3070 93.67
70 27 Loren Vorreiter Western Wheelers 40+ 37:59 8.37 3065 93.51
71 91 Patrick Callahan Western Wheelers 40+ 38:09 8.34 3051 93.10
72 155 Larry Klein Jerry 45+ 38:19 8.30 3038 92.69
73 54 Barry Burr Two legs to stand on 50+ 38:25 8.28 3030 92.45
74 76 Richard Jacinto Trigon 45+ 39:11 8.12 2971 90.64
75 64 Han Wen 40+ 39:21 8.08 2958 90.26
76 41 Petro Hizalev Webcor/Alto Velo 30+ 39:39 8.02 2936 89.58
77 38 Thomas Preisler LGBRC 50+ 39:59 7.95 2911 88.83
78 68 Jan Berka 39:59 7.95 2911 88.83
79 206 Jeff Miller 40+ 40:27 7.86 2878 87.80
80 130 Steve Chapel Western Wheelers 65+ 40:35 7.84 2868 87.52
81 36 Al Williams Webcor/Alto Velo 65+ 42:15 7.53 2755 84.06
82 51 Richard Contreras 50+ 42:16 7.52 2754 84.03
83 125 Jerrick McCullough 40+ 42:16 7.52 2754 84.03
84 171 Scott Barry 40+ 42:33 7.47 2736 83.47
85 86 Gerald Jeffs Cycling Systems 50+ 42:49 7.43 2719 82.95
86 90 Tim Sutton Western Wheelers 45+ 43:01 7.39 2706 82.56
87 116 Kenneth Fong Team Rwanda 45+ 43:31 7.31 2675 81.62
88 52 Barry Chaffin Western Wheelers 43:49 7.26 2657 81.06
89 119 Gary Swart Ryro Senior 44:29 7.15 2617 79.84
90 89 Bob Gumaer UID 50+ 45:11 7.04 2576 78.61
91 46 Vincent Wong Out of Shape 35+ 45:15 7.03 2572 78.49
92 21 Kley Cardona ACTC 45+ 45:37 6.97 2552 77.86
93 126 John Conklin 40+ 45:47 6.95 2542 77.58
94 95 Eric Olsen Google Clydesdale  46:13 6.88 2519 76.85
95 166 Tom Everman Google 50+ 46:17 6.87 2515 76.74
96 63 James Deitrich Merlot MTB 46:37 6.82 2497 76.19
97 65 Michael Morosin 60+ 47:43 6.66 2439 74.43
98 11 Doug Simpkinson Webcor/Alto Velo 35+ 50:49 6.26 2291 69.89
99 191 Jerry Charumilind 30+ 51:19 6.20 2268 69.21
100 131 Mike Hansted 45+ 51:35 6.16 2257 68.85
101 135 Swaminatha Vasudevan 40+ 52:33 6.05 2215 67.59
102 84 Ryoji Watanabe Google 40+ 58:05 5.47 2004 61.15
103 165 Zachary Cohen Factset 64:11 4.95 1814 55.34
104 104 David Hrovatin Merlot MTB 66:07 4.81 1761 53.72
105 121 Andrew Conklin 15-Junior 113:21 2.81 1027 31.33

Women

median time = 42:08

pl # rider team category time mph fph score
1 55 Rikke Preisler Sisters of No Mercy 30+ 34:15 9.28 3399 123.04
2 134 Beverley Chaney Team Roaring Mouse Ladies 34:23 9.25 3385 122.56
3 37 Laura Hipp Western Wheelers Out Of Shape Moms 36:29 8.72 3190 115.51
4 99 Holly Harris Sisters of No Mercy 40+ 38:43 8.21 3006 108.85
5 34 Margie Medrano Team Bike Trip 50+ 39:37 8.03 2938 106.37
6 39 Christy Cowley Sisters of No Mercy 40+ 40:27 7.86 2878 104.18
7 50 Kelly Crowley Team Rwanda 50+ 41:15 7.71 2822 102.16
8 47 Janet Chaffin Western Wheelers 43:02 7.39 2705 97.93
9 211 Kim Natzel 45+ 45:37 6.97 2552 92.38
10 60 Lori Fabris Sisters of No Mercy 50+ 45:51 6.94 2539 91.91
11 22 Kelly Kasik 49:29 6.43 2352 85.16
12 61 Lisa Emmerich Team Rwanda 45+ 51:01 6.23 2282 82.60
13 4 Pat Parseghian Google 50+ 54:43 5.81 2127 77.02
14 149 Ingrid McCarty 50+ 55:05 5.77 2113 76.51



Photos by Luke Burton:


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

It sounds like you had an entertaining ride. You do appear to be smiling in the picture, though I suppose it could be a grimace! All those guys under 30 minutes on Montebello are just unbelievable. The junior who finished with a time just under 2 hours with an average speed of 2.81 mph must have had an epic ride! Kudos to him for finishing.

I really want to do a low-key event this year. Saturday didn't work out as I was down in San Diego on our family vacation. I'm really hoping to get out for next weekend though. I'll have to start earning some brownie points with ukwife.


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## answ (Sep 18, 2009)

This was my first time on a lowkey ride and I was surprised how many people were there. Unfortunately, I started off in the back of the pack and it was annoying to be stuck behind everyone on the earlier slopes. I did manage to redeem myself a bit and finished at 35:33 but I was hoping for a better time. Hopefully better luck on OLH!


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## jasonwells4 (Aug 7, 2006)

francois said:


> 50 26 Ben Stern Team Roaring Mouse 30+/Fixed 35:09 9.05 3312 101.04


Any idea what the rear cable is for? The hub looks kind of small to have any internal gears, or brake... Maybe he just removed his rear brake for this event and left the cable...


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

jasonwells4 said:


> Maybe he just removed his rear brake for this event and left the cable...


I'm pretty sure that's it. He has both levers and cables installed, but just the front brake. With this set-up it would be easy to add the rear brake back in for other rides. I can't imagine cycling up Montebello with a fixed gear - if you gear down for the steep parts, you get screwed on the flat part, and vica versa.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

That fixie guy is pretty impressive... finishing midpack on a fairly tough climb like that.

Wonder how he would've done w/gears.
.


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## HammerTime-TheOriginal (Mar 29, 2006)

Did he ride the fixie back down that son of a *****? Now that would be impressive , or stupid, or whatever.


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## alunlang (Jul 1, 2009)

Riding a fixie is not that hard!! :mad2: You are a wish machine, wish something and do it! it is that easy.dont be afraid of a bike and your ability.:thumbsup:


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

HammerTime-TheOriginal said:


> Did he ride the fixie back down that son of a *****? Now that would be impressive , or stupid, or whatever.


Yep, he's good. He's Cat 3 and all muscle.

Montebello has 10%+ grades in the beginning so going up (and down) is truly impressive.

fc


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

alunlang said:


> Riding a fixie is not that hard!! :mad2: You are a wish machine, wish something and do it! it is that easy.dont be afraid of a bike and your ability.:thumbsup:


It's not the fixie. It's the climb that's the issue here. I was on my 39-25 the whole ride!! And he wasn't.


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## HammerTime-TheOriginal (Mar 29, 2006)

francois said:


> Yep, he's good. He's Cat 3 and all muscle.
> 
> Montebello has 10%+ grades in the beginning so going up (and down) is truly impressive.
> 
> fc


You are talking fixed gear, not single speed freewheel, right? Hence my amazement at riding down.


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## troutmd (Sep 7, 2007)

Hey ... his removal of the rear brake caliper was the secret. Impressive nonetheless.


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## quidquam (Nov 4, 2008)

rj2 said:


> Do you want to ride there from your house? What time should I be there? I finally have a lightish bike. 13.66 lbs. with the 38mm tubulars.


If you think 13.66 lbs. is only 'lightish', you need to get off the internet!

Mike (wishing the hillclimbs weren't so early -- I wake up at 9:30am!... but I might make it out anyway to meet folks)


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

I did the second climb of the 2009 Low-key Hill Climb series yesterday. It was Old La Honda so how could I resist? This was my first timed/race event _ever_. I had a lot of butterflies in my stomach before hand but it was really fun . I matched my personal best, though since it was from a standing start and the start line was before the bridge it was a fractionally better performance. My target was to do better than median, but I ended up right at the end of the first quarter of the riders in the results.

The format was small groups of around 15. I tried to pick a group that I thought would help me push my time (ie. a bit faster than me), so I selected about the 5th group out of maybe 10. At the start almost the entire group rode away from me! One of my weaknesses is over doing it in the first third of the climb so I pace my efforts by speed and by power. Being off the back in the first minute was disconcerting and I thought I'd completely misjudged my performance level versus the field. After the first 100m sprint was over, everyone settled into their natural pace and started to spread out. Very quickly I started overtaking people and this continued all the way up the climb. I didn't get a pull from anyone but having all those rabbits to chase and catch was pretty motivating. One guy held my wheel for a little while but other than that no one caught up with me. I overtook probably 30 riders on the way up!

At the top I was pretty wasted. I'm not on best form right now (e.g. 20:15 on OLH on Thursday in near ideal conditions), so getting a personal best was a big surprise. I felt super good all the way up. I think the adrenalin and excitement boost of being in a race was worth most of that minutes worth of improvement since Thursday.

Any one else do the ride yesterday? It was hard to pick anyone out in the field of 140+ riders.


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## K-Zero (Feb 7, 2004)

ukbloke said:


> Any one else do the ride yesterday? It was hard to pick anyone out in the field of 140+ riders.


I rode it yesterday as well and I got my ass kicked by 92 other riders. I've climbed up OLH countless times, but I usually do so at a leisurely ~28 min pace as to not tire myself out in the beginning of my rides. So I figured if I actually went all-out I'd get close to 20 min, but man was I wrong…I finished way back at 22:32 (Garmin time). The good news is, I've been off my bike most of the year and this was my first max-effort run up OLH -- so in theory I should only get faster from here  

On a side note, one thing that surprised me about this event was how un-"low-key" it felt. I mean, it looked to me like 99% of the riders there were part of a club/team….and I even saw some riders warming up on trainers before the ride. I kinda felt bad for dragging my friend along who just got into riding, because I thought it would have more recreational crowds/vibe.

K-Zero


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Great job Ukbloke and K-zero!!! It's kind of depressing seeing how fast everyone is. I mean 51 riders under 20 minutes???

My mtb friend Krishna Dole just had a baby and he climbed in a personal best 17:09. Unreal!

fc


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

K-Zero said:


> On a side note, one thing that surprised me about this event was how un-"low-key" it felt. I mean, it looked to me like 99% of the riders there were part of a club/team….and I even saw some riders warming up on trainers before the ride.


I think the intention is for it to be low-key in terms of organization and overhead (compared to a sanctioned race). The nature of the ride itself is entirely up to the riders. If people want to ride for fun they can, while if others want to compete like they are in the Tour De France they can too. A lot of people take it pretty seriously but I'm a bit surprised that some would warm up on trainers. With the fastest time at 15:35 the performance of the lead riders is just amazing, and I suppose a controlled warm-up is necessary.



francois said:


> It's kind of depressing seeing how fast everyone is. I mean 51 riders under 20 minutes???


Note that this was a huge field for a low-key event. The median time of 21:03 was slower than the 20:24 when low-key last went to OLH in 2006.


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## answ (Sep 18, 2009)

I made it to OLH this last weekend and it was first time up the hill. I wanted to get under 20 min but I managed just over 21 min. I think I can get under 20 min if I try again because I wasn't really sure where the end was and I wasn't pacing myself up very quickly.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

answ said:


> I made it to OLH this last weekend and it was first time up the hill. I wanted to get under 20 min but I managed just over 21 min. I think I can get under 20 min if I try again because I wasn't really sure where the end was and I wasn't pacing myself up very quickly.


It looks like you got the median time - impressive! Pacing is pretty important on that climb, and it definitely helps to have ridden it before. I've been up that hill more than 50 times in the last 2 years! Although I recognize every tree on the way up, I have 3 visual points where I check my pace. These are at 1/3 and 2/3 distance, plus one closer to the end where I can judge whether I'm going to make a good time and decide how much to put myself in the hole for an all-out effort at the end.


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