Low-Key: OLH & Kings
The two "classic" time tests of the Peninsula are OLH and Kings Mountain Road.
Okay, so first, what's this "OLH" business? I think we all know what OLH is. I prefer to call it OLH since the local residents discovered The Google.
I'm an OLH guy myself. Given the choice, if there's only one climb I can do, that'd be it. It's perfect in almost every way. Perfect grade. Shade. Shielded from the wind. Perfect distance. Perfect road surface. Perfect density of turns. Excellent proximity to population and decent proximity to the train (which is far from ideal, but I digress). It is the model climb. Well, okay, not perfect car traffic. That would be zero, and typically you encounter on average maybe one car when climbing OLH, which takes a bit less than 20 minutes, depending on how I'm feeling.
Deviations from OLH are generally deviations from the optimal. Nothing wrong with deviations: variation is a good thing.
Kings just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't have that feeling of being "in the zone" that OLH does. Still awesome, though. We're so spoiled here.
Anyway, we don't get to do these climbs as much as I'd like. Local residents frankly have too much income, and with that too much sense of ownership for what is not theirs. Too much entitlement. These are public roads, as much as any highway is a public road. Complaining about bikes on OLH or Kings is like complaining about cars on El Camino. Not all residents feel this way, obviously. But all it takes is one to harass riders, riders who have as much right to be there as he does, and it makes life less pleasant for everyone.
But no Bay area hillclimb series would be worth its name if it didn't visit each of these climbs at least every few years. So for what it's worth, here's the Low-Key records on OLH and Kings.
OLH by Josh Hadley
One year, 1996, OLH was a separate climb, not part of the series proper, and called "week X". I include these results here, primarily because that was Tracy's PR up the hill. I remember telling Tracy at the start that he should dump the pump and toolbag. Every gram counts, after all, and it only takes around 80 to cost yourself a second. Tracy crossed the line in 16-even. Too bad; for some reason 15:59 seems so much faster.
Another highlight on OLH was the year before, when Gary Gellin ran OLH and finished in a very respectable 24 minutes and change. It wasn't to be the last time Gary was going to show up and show that two wheels are over-rated. Gary's run five climbs altogether, the most recent Alba Road this year.
For me, my result up Kings in 1995 was perhaps my best Low-Key ever. I felt so strong that day. I'd done a bike tour in France that summer, climbing many of the famous Tour cols, and that left me with a really nice dose of fitness. Someday I've got to return to France. I've not been back since. But as good as I felt, Tracy absolutely demolished Kings two years later. Sub-20: wow!
So good memories from these two hills. Look for Kings to return in the 2010 schedule!
Kings Mountain
Men
Women
Mixed Tandem
OLH
Men
Women
Mixed Tandem
Unicycle
Runner
Women's Tandem
Okay, so first, what's this "OLH" business? I think we all know what OLH is. I prefer to call it OLH since the local residents discovered The Google.
I'm an OLH guy myself. Given the choice, if there's only one climb I can do, that'd be it. It's perfect in almost every way. Perfect grade. Shade. Shielded from the wind. Perfect distance. Perfect road surface. Perfect density of turns. Excellent proximity to population and decent proximity to the train (which is far from ideal, but I digress). It is the model climb. Well, okay, not perfect car traffic. That would be zero, and typically you encounter on average maybe one car when climbing OLH, which takes a bit less than 20 minutes, depending on how I'm feeling.
Deviations from OLH are generally deviations from the optimal. Nothing wrong with deviations: variation is a good thing.
Kings just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't have that feeling of being "in the zone" that OLH does. Still awesome, though. We're so spoiled here.
Anyway, we don't get to do these climbs as much as I'd like. Local residents frankly have too much income, and with that too much sense of ownership for what is not theirs. Too much entitlement. These are public roads, as much as any highway is a public road. Complaining about bikes on OLH or Kings is like complaining about cars on El Camino. Not all residents feel this way, obviously. But all it takes is one to harass riders, riders who have as much right to be there as he does, and it makes life less pleasant for everyone.
But no Bay area hillclimb series would be worth its name if it didn't visit each of these climbs at least every few years. So for what it's worth, here's the Low-Key records on OLH and Kings.
OLH by Josh HadleyOne year, 1996, OLH was a separate climb, not part of the series proper, and called "week X". I include these results here, primarily because that was Tracy's PR up the hill. I remember telling Tracy at the start that he should dump the pump and toolbag. Every gram counts, after all, and it only takes around 80 to cost yourself a second. Tracy crossed the line in 16-even. Too bad; for some reason 15:59 seems so much faster.
Another highlight on OLH was the year before, when Gary Gellin ran OLH and finished in a very respectable 24 minutes and change. It wasn't to be the last time Gary was going to show up and show that two wheels are over-rated. Gary's run five climbs altogether, the most recent Alba Road this year.
For me, my result up Kings in 1995 was perhaps my best Low-Key ever. I felt so strong that day. I'd done a bike tour in France that summer, climbing many of the famous Tour cols, and that left me with a really nice dose of fitness. Someday I've got to return to France. I've not been back since. But as good as I felt, Tracy absolutely demolished Kings two years later. Sub-20: wow!
So good memories from these two hills. Look for Kings to return in the 2010 schedule!
Kings Mountain
Men
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 1996(4) Tracy Colwell 19:51 137.028
2 2007(2) Tim Clark 21:15 127.49
3 1995(2) Dan Connelly 21:35 127.181
4 2007(2) Mark Edwards 21:46 124.464
5 1996(4) Glenn Chadwick 21:53 124.296
6 2007(2) Clark Foy 21:55 123.612
7 2007(2) Eric Balfus 22:04 122.772
8 1996(4) Chris Crawford 22:09 122.799
9 1996(4) Thomas Lund 22:12 122.523
10 1995(2) Tom Hertenstein 22:13 123.556
11 1995(2) Jamie Willin 22:20 122.91
12 2007(2) Dan Connelly 22:22 121.125
13 1996(4) Ruedi Brunner 22:23 121.519
14 2007(2) Rupert Brauch 22:28 120.586
15 1996(4) Michael Denardi 22:30 120.889
16 1995(2) Geo Kitta 22:33 121.729
17 2007(2) Ken Gallardo 22:48 118.823
18 2007(2) Greg McQuaid 22:53 118.39
19 2007(2) Tom Gardin 22:54 118.304
20 2007(2) Justin Lucke 23:04 117.449
Women
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 1996(4) Laura Stern 26:10 117.07
2 1996(4) Kristen Neubauer 26:52 114.02
3 2007(2) Anny Henry 27:09 135.083
4 1996(4) Liz Benishin 27:20 112.073
5 1996(4) Lisa Antonino 28:11 108.693
6 1995(2) Linda Elgart 28:17 116.588
7 2007(2) Margie Biddick 29:23 124.816
8 1996(4) Charlotte Jacobson 30:20 100.989
9 1996(4) Julie Colwell 30:56 99.0302
10 1995(2) Cheryl Herms 31:05 106.086
11 1996(4) Phyllis Olrich 32:15 94.9871
12 2007(2) Mary Ellen Allen 32:42 112.156
13 2007(2) Kelly Kasik 34:14 107.132
14 1995(2) Crystal Thorpe 34:52 94.5746
15 1995(2) Barbara Titel 36:02 91.5125
16 2007(2) Christie Craig 36:15 101.172
17 1996(4) Pat Baenen 36:18 84.3893
18 1996(4) Roxanne Robinson 36:40 83.5455
19 1996(4) Kana Saibuya 36:54 83.0172
20 2007(2) Nuria Bertran 37:06 98.8544
Mixed Tandem
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 2007(2) Ileana Parker 30:17 89.4606
1 2007(2) Bob Parker 30:17 89.4606
OLH
Men
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 2009(2) Christopher Phipps 15:35 135.08
2 2009(2) Justin Lucke 15:57 131.975
3 2009(2) Brian Lucido 15:58 131.837
4 1996(X) Tracy Colwell 16:00 131.042
5 2006(2) Scott Frake 16:33 123.313
6 2009(2) Ciaran Byrne 16:43 125.922
7 2009(2) Ammon Skidmore 16:51 124.926
8 2009(2) Eric Balfus 16:53 124.679
9 2006(2) Ryan Sherlock 16:59 120.167
10 2006(2) Andrey Revyakin 17:01 119.931
11 2009(2) Jon Ornstil 17:04 123.34
12 2009(2) Ken Spencer 17:05 123.22
13 2009(2) Krishna Dole 17:09 122.741
14 2006(2) Brian Edwards 17:13 118.538
15 2009(2) Mark Edwards 17:16 121.911
16 2009(2) Clark Foy 17:17 121.794
17 2006(2) Menso de Jong 17:18 117.967
18 2006(2) Kieran Sherlock 17:19 117.854
19 1995(4) Dan Connelly 17:22 129.655
20 2006(2) Jens Heycke 17:23 117.402
Women
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 2009(2) Janet Martinez 21:24 126.324
2 2009(2) Mei Xi 21:53 123.534
3 2009(2) Mary Ellen Allen 22:14 121.589
4 1995(4) Liz Benishin 22:34 116.765
5 2006(2) Ingrid Erkman 23:12 116.739
6 1996(X) Julie Colwell 24:07 105.39
7 2009(2) Daniela Becker 24:33 110.115
8 1996(X) Phyllis Olrich 24:45 102.694
9 2009(2) Lisa Hern 24:54 108.568
10 1996(X) Cheryl Herms 25:07 101.194
11 1996(X) Pat Baenen 25:25 100
12 1996(X) Jane Taylor 25:28 99.8037
13 2009(2) Laura Egley 25:58 104.108
14 2009(2) Andrea Ivan 26:18 102.788
15 1995(4) Marcia Hutchinson 26:21 100
16 2006(2) Cheryl Hennessy 26:38 101.69
17 2009(2) Carol Sykes 27:02 100
18 2006(2) Stephanie Gruszunski 27:32 98.3656
19 1996(X) Julia Jung-Ames 28:25 89.4428
20 2009(2) Kelly Kasik 29:00 93.2184
Mixed Tandem
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 1996(X) Mark Trail 22:00 95.303
1 1996(X) Lisa Trail 22:00 95.303
Unicycle
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 2009(2) Steve Nash 27:09 77.5322
2 2006(2) Steve Nash 27:52 73.2356
Runner
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 1995(4) Gary Gellin 24:29 91.9673
Women's Tandem
rank year(wk) name time %median
1 2009(2) Meredith Nader 47:53 56.4567
1 2009(2) Amy Nader 47:53 56.4567
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