The above photo was taken on July 25th just above Ellenville NY. Jim came up to do a great 90 mile ride through the Catskills with me and afterward we met up with a bunch of other guys to watch the TdF declare the victor on Mount Ventoux.
July 25th is a day that I will remember as long as I live. I finally dropped Jim on a climb (Ulster Heights Rd). I have been riding with Jim for three years and consider him my mentor when it comes to the bike. To finally beat him on a climb is something I have been trying to do for quite some time now
The house we rode to (where the above picture was taken) was on top of a rather steep climb. It gains 700 feet in around 4 miles before leveling off for the last 1 mile. Granted he ran out of gas, but I was also running on emtpy on the climb. At the very bottom there was a very steep ramp and I acclerated just to keep the current pace. About a 1/4 of way up the road ramped up again and 90 degrees to the left. I looked back to see if Jim was still with me, only to my surprise to see that he was well off my wheel.
From there on I was going 110% trying to widen the gap. I have never been in so much pain on a climb - a combination of the distance, lack of fuel in the tank, and the climb itself. But I knew if I was suffering Jim was suffering more. By the end I had put somewhere around 3 to 4 mintues on him in a
Of course he will get his rematch on Gold Mine Rd. coming up sometime in August or September and I'm sure he will school me as he usually does. But for one day in July I was king of the mountain - the man being chased and not the one doing the chasing.
Best!
Captain Crunch
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