The Hollywood Sign and The Dedicated Masochist,

[dd74]

I rode my bike as close as possible to the Hollywood Sign without leaving the road. Or should I say, I climbed and descended the 10% grades to get up there. Going up, maybe I broke 5 or 6 mph on a 39/27 gear. Coming down, 60 mph in a 53/12, before braking.

Casualties - brake pads are gone, might have ruined my bottom bracket.

Also, I'm practically drinking aspirin.

But I'm happy I did it.

[look 171]

Which way did you go up, beechwood?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Haven't done that climb yet, but it's on my list... Once my new replacement bike shows up.

Normally for hill work I do the P.V. summit. It's loooooooong.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by look 171

Which way did you go up, beechwood?

Yes, Beachwood. Turned right off of Franklin, and took the long shallow climb up past the market, then left onto the first street. Hello 10% or more all the way up.

My mother-in-law used to live at the very top. The Hollywood Sign was more-or-less her front yard. A horrible area to live for obvious tourist-type reasons.

After that, I went down the long shallow downhill, then, right at Madonna's old house, boom: it's a vertical drop before the 1/2-mile plateau, then another drop to the Hollywood Reservoir. Going around the Reservoir, you can really cook to about 25 mph, but the corners are really funky with cracked asphalt, etc. Still, you're catching cars that can't drive as fast as a cyclist rides.

Then comes the next climb - it doesn't stop. It's a tongue dragger all the way up to the descent to Barham Blvd.

I loved it!

[dd74]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Haven't done that climb yet, but it's on my list... Once my new replacement bike shows up.

Normally for hill work I do the P.V. summit. It's loooooooong.

Jeff - what bike will you get? You should hold off for a month or so as the LBSs will be clearing out their 08 models. Especially true for Dura Ace and Campy Record, as I think the new electronic shift DA and new Record is supposed to come out this Fall, IIRC.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Funny you should mention that:

http://www.uraniumbicycles.com/pifp2robi.html

[dd74]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Funny you should mention that:

http://www.uraniumbicycles.com/pifp2robi.html

Call 'em tomorrow. That's the steal of the year! You can't even find Ultegra for the full cost of that rig.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Already done. Wasn't gonna' say anything yet though.

[dd74]

Congrats! Beat it like a drum! That Pinnie deserves pain. And Ultegra is a tank. I've about 10K kilometers on mine without a failure. (Well, then there's the click from my bottom bracket as of today's ride).

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Thanks, I'll probably say some more about it once I get it here - I'm planning on bringin' the pain quite a bit once that gets here. Time to go into "suicide mode" with training. I know it's a big investment - especially for a guy who's still in "base mile building" mode rather than doing crits or group rides or hardcore interval training or anything yet, but I need a little pick-me-up right now. Plus it's a damn good motivator to ride. A lot. Which is what I want/need.

+1 on the Ultegra stuff. I like it a lot; my wife's bike that I built for her has all Ultegra stuff and it's awesome quality.

I'll let you know in another week or so how it is. Hopefully I can get it delivered here by next weekend, clean it up, tune it, tweak it, etc. and go for my first ride next Saturday. Here's hopin'...