Three locals compete in epic uphill bike race
Hollister’s Rob Maheu put it bluntly, albeit tongue-in-cheek,
when speaking about the Climb to Kaiser cycling event that scales
13,500 feet in elevation, across 155 miles, all in a single
day.
”
That’s a pretty tough day,
”
he said.
”
That’s a daunting challenge for anybody. You almost have to have
a screw loose to attempt it.
”
And Jim and Don fit the bill.
”
Three locals compete in epic uphill bike race
Hollister’s Rob Maheu put it bluntly, albeit tongue-in-cheek, when speaking about the Climb to Kaiser cycling event that scales 13,500 feet in elevation, across 155 miles, all in a single day.
“That’s a pretty tough day,” he said. “That’s a daunting challenge for anybody. You almost have to have a screw loose to attempt it.
“And Jim and Don fit the bill.”
Speaking of friends and training partners Jim Bonnet and Don Smith, the threesome competed in the 2008 Climb to Kaiser on June 28 near Clovis. Considered one of the 10 toughest rides in America by Bicycling Magazine, the Climb to Kaiser is certainly not for the faint of heart, the novice rider, or perhaps even those cyclists with their screws firmly in place.
Luckily, race organizers had close to 300 riders sign up. But after smoky conditions reduced the start number to approximately 260, and coupled with the steep climb up (“Up is the only way out …” says the race’s Web site), a little more than 190 riders finished the famed Climb to Kaiser.
Bonnet and Smith, who finished in 30th and 34th place last year, respectively, took fourth and 16th this year in times of 9 hours, 41 minutes and 10 hours, 52 minutes.
With bodies built from swimming and cycling, Bonnet and Smith – who do threshold training, cycling 20 mph for 60 miles – completed the 155-mile course despite the heavy smoke from the many nearby wildfires and temperatures that reached triple digits.
Maheu, who frequently competes in far shorter but far faster circuit races, completed the Tollhouse Century, nonetheless. Stretching 100 miles and 8,000 feet, Maheu finished the race in a little more than six hours.
“I had intentions of doing the Climb to Kaiser, but the conditions were pretty tough that day,” Maheu said. “This was the first time going on this ride. I knew it was hard, but I didn’t know how hard it was gonna be.
“If you don’t come prepared, it’s gonna eat you up.”
Bonnet and Smith, who were both rather pleased with their drastic improvement from the previous year, noted the extreme difficulty of the race.
With a start time of 5:30 a.m., temperatures were already at 75 degrees. Although that day’s 105-degree high wasn’t felt until riders returned to the valley at Clovis High School at the end of the race, the cyclists instead had to trek upward first, where grades were sometimes as steep as 20 percent.
And unlike the threesomes training regimen – which includes approximately 200 miles a week of riding, but is done together in order to push one another – Maheu, Bonnet and Smith were more or less by themselves during the race.
“It becomes a mental game for nine hours to keep going,” said Bonnet, who, like Smith, rode pretty much all alone for the majority of the race. “In a training situation, you get bummed with it from time to time. In the event, though, no. I had a goal to go do it and I wasn’t gonna give that up.”
“When you’re riding by yourself, it’s easy to take it easy,” Smith said. “When you ride with someone, with a good strong rider, it makes you train harder. It’s very easy to get lazy.”
“There’s a different psychology,” Maheu said.
Riding alone and uphill – where one grade was listed at 2,000 feet in about 3.5 miles – heavy smoke only made matters worse. According to Bonnet, the smoke didn’t dissipate until around 7,000 feet up.
“It’s crazy steep,” said Smith, who was forced to take medication at the summit due to the smoke. “It affected me. By the time I got to Kaiser, my chest was really tight. With the altitude, I struggled.”
“You can definitely feel it in your lungs,” Bonnet added.
Despite the conditions, Bonnet’s fourth-place finish improved by 50 minutes from the previous year, and he credits the turnaround with the many more miles he rode, and the many more uphill miles he scaled.
Using climbs like East Dunne in Morgan Hill, Fremont Peak in San Juan Bautista and The Pinnacles, though, it was near impossible to mimic the grades in the Climb to Kaiser, Bonnet said.
“I think knowing what to expect was a big part of it,” said Bonnet, who burned some 6,500 calories during the race.
Noting how impressive it is to simply complete the race, Maheu highlighted the significance of what his two training partners had accomplished, and feels Bonnet has serious potential to win the race in the upcoming years.
“There’s always room for improvement,” said Smith, who not only lost the use of his on-board computer during the race, but Maheu added that his shifter malfunctioned as well. “Jim and I are already talking about next year.”
Maheu, who’ll compete this weekend in San Jose and next weekend in Watsonville in shorter circuit races, said endurance races are “not his bag,” but he still has intentions of competing next year with Bonnet and Smith.
“I figured I had enough fitness to give it a go, but I didn’t train specifically for it,” he said. “But it’s an epic adventure. It’s like climbing Mount Everest – something to put down in your scrapbook that says I’ve done it.”
With little weight lifting involved during training, the threesome will probably take the simplest route (for them) to preparing for next year’s Climb to Kaiser.
Referring to the famous words of Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi, who was asked by a reporter what his secret was for being such a successful rider, Smith said, “Ride your bike. Ride your bike. Ride your bike.”
