Relativity

California has a reputation for cranking out phenomenal cyclists, which is one of the main reasons I was so eager to move out here. It's true of course that strong cyclists are everywhere, and Greensboro had its fair share of crushers, most of whom I could only hang with for brief, glorious, painful periods of time. So while I came here knowing the folk tales of fantastic cycling, I didn't know what the reality would be like.

I also only have Greensboro to compare everything to. My definitions of "hill", "roller", "climb", "headwind", even "fast" are going to have to change to Morgan Hill conditions.

Because everything is relative.

Example?

Here are the stats from 2 rides, the first I did back in GSO, the second I did today:

Time:	01:30:38
Distance:	26.23 mi
Elevation Gain:	1,419 ft
Avg HR: 143 bpm Max HR: 169 bpm	Avg Moving Speed: 17.4 mph

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Time:	01:38:05
Distance:	26.65 mi
Elevation Gain:	1,388 ft
Avg HR:	156 bpm
Max HR:	183 bpm

Avg Moving Speed:

16.4 mph

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So. Take a look. First ride and second ride. Both have about the same amount of time, the same amount of elevation gain. But wow, look at the heartrates! The first ride was high endurance, just dipping once into AT land. The second was flat out red lining, and more of a tempo average. Both rides were ridden with guys who were stronger than me but riding at my pace.

The first ride was an out and back on Witty road, which most of you guys know has a lot of "hills" on it. The second ride was a variation on one of the normal Lunch Ride loops, with an extra bit of climbing thrown in (hence the red line).

So what is the difference?

Where Greensboro had lots of little ups and downs, none of them were very steep. They were just consistent. Never really long enough to spike up your HR unless you wanted them to, and always quickly dispensed with in time for a nice easy straight recovery downhill. When it was flat, like 150, there was rarely a strong wind. I went onto ridewithgps.com, and the average grade of those roads was around 3-4%, sometimes spiking into the 6% (like coming home on Lake Brandt), but not going uphill for super long periods of time.

Here, things are different. Sure, same total elevation gain, but at an average of 6-8% on most roads that go up, and usually around 9%. Switchbacks, definite out of saddle stuff. Today's ride had a maximum grade of 13.5%.

To put it another way, the road that broke me during the Blue Ridge Brutal was about 8 miles long, and had a maximum grade of 13.4%, and was more than 10% for the last .5 mile.

Here, we have a road that is 10.2 miles long and has a maximum grade of 15.6%, and spikes above 10% for a good deal of it as well.

I had to drive 2.5 hours to find the Blue Ridge Brutal road. I have to step outside my door to find the latter.

And that's just one of many. Not all of them as long (though many are), or steep (though many are), but everywhere you look.

If it's not a hill, it's a headwind, strong and consistent enough to bend the trees as they grow.

If you think this entry is ending as a sob story, though, you would be completely wrong. I'm not only eager, I'm thrilled to be tackling this sort of terrain as my everyday norm. The descents are technical most of the time and the ascents are grueling most of the time. But that's just for now. My riding relative to the area, and relative to my experiences.

One year from now, everything will be different. The new will turn to normal. These long, uphill roads will be the ho hum. And even if I'm not faster, I know I will be stronger because of it.