Saturday, I did one of my favorite rides--through the Arboretum from Chardon. I ride up Mentor Road to Little Mountain, blast down Little Mountain, then take Sperry through the Arb. including the comically steep Sperry Road Hill. The highlight of the trip is the climb up Kirtland Chardon Road east toward Chardon.
I was flogged from the ride yesterday, and I wanted to establish a new baseline time for the Kirtland Chardon climb for the middle of the season, so I took it very easy throughout the ride to conserve energy for the final climb. I even just rode tempo down Little Mountain, where the slightly downhill grade invites an all out effort.
I made my way through the Arb, and then headed east on Kirtland Chardon Road. Some big seams opened up in the pavement on the west side of the hill, so a high speed descent is bone jarring at best and could be wheel smashing at worst.
My course for the KCR climb starts just east of Wisner road after the bridge. There's a strip of tar there just before the driveway on the right. It goes to the summit, where there's a seam in the road. The total distance is 1.3 miles. The elevation gain is somewhere over 400 feet. Topo maps show it as 475 feet, but my altimeter shows something closer to 400 feet of elevation gain.
On this particular run, I wasn't interested in getting my best possible time. I just wanted to establish some new pacing for future all out efforts up the hill. I took it easy up the foot of the climb. The first 0.2 miles averages 10% with a max grade of 15%. On the second leg of the climb, the grade drops to 5% for another 0.2 miles, then it's stair steps to the top, 10% grades alternate with flat sections. I kept it under my LT for until the summit was in sight.
I finished with an 8:30. Not bad for a 222 pounder. My average power was only 316 Watts.
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