Mt Keira TT. 30th July 2005

Well Saturday came around and I met up with the group at 6.00am. As expected we decided to head up Mt Keira and make our way towards Waterfall and then back. This was my chance to have a shot at the current MT Keira record as registered on cycle2max.com. The current record is 19min 5sec. My current PB is 19min 43sec. At the start of the climb things were moving pretty slow for the first 500m so I went around to the front and started to up the tempo. Looking down at my speedo, on the hardest part of the climb up to the school I noticed I was sitting on around 14kph in my 39/21. That was good because I knew I needed to keep it above 12kph. By the time I reached the archery range I was left with only one other rider, Scott (He was riding very well and we managed to finish together). At this point my hr was into the higher 160’s but I still felt pretty good. We hit the only flat section in 11minutes. I knew now I needed to sit around 18-20kph for the rest of the climb to break this long standing record of 2 years. I went for it. My heart was peaking at around 172bpm. I was now starting to really hurt. I reached the Mt Keira Lookout turnoff in approximately 17.50, and I thought shit this is going to be close. I got out the saddle for the first time, dropped it into my 39/17 and hammered myself to the line. I looked down at my watch and it said 19.15. Damm I missed out by 10 secs. Oh well, I gave it my best and in about 6-8 weeks I’ll have another go at the record. I was pleased with my time as I PB’d it by 38 sec with an average heart 2 bpm lower. That’s the one thing that disappointed about todays TT, I thought I would have had a higher heart rate average. I thought overall I was a bit erratic in some sections. Something I’ll have to correct next time.
Having something like this to aim over winter has been a real motivator for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their cycling strength. If you go to www.cylce2max.com I’m sure there will be a climb in an area near you. If not, just register one yourself and get the ball rolling. So if there is anyone out there doing climbs on cycle2max and registering them, let me know who you are. I’m always keen to speak with others out there and follow your progress.

Cheers
fluro