It’s neat to see Megumi on the Coker. 30 miles and 3000 feet of climbing makes for a healthy ride.
I also had a really fun Coker ride on Sunday. Well actually, I had a really fun muni ride and then a really fun Coker ride.
Sunday morning I met up with Jagur and went for a muni ride in Falls City, Oregon. The ride in Falls City is a fun one because the trails all go downhill. I’m not sure how much climbing there is to get to the top, but I think it’s around 1000 feet give or take a few hundred. The best part is that we finished the ride just as a healthy rain shower started. Perfect timing!
Then I rushed over to Corvallis Oregon to climb Marys Peak. When I got to Corvallis the rains were holding off so the climb was on. I did the Marys Peak climb on the Coker with 170 mm cranks.
I tried the 170’s just to see what it would be like to do a long climb with long cranks. The long cranks worked well. At no point during the climb did I feel like I was under-geared. At no point did I have to stand on the pedals to keep going. With the 170’s I could just sit and pedal.
The crown of the road did present some problems. On the flats the road crown doesn’t bother me much. But on a climb the road crown was more noticeable. It gets worse on right-hand turns where the road slopes even more to the right. My left leg had to do a lot more work to keep the uni going straight. I’d do a hard push with the left leg to counteract the tendency of the uni to veer to the right due to the road crown. It got to the point that I was very happy for every left-hand turn where my right leg would do the work and my left leg could take a rest.
I didn’t take any pictures but I did keep some general stats:
Distance up: 9.4 miles
Distance up and down: 18.8 miles
Total elevation gain: 2800 feet
Ride time up: 1.5 hours 6.3 mph
Ride time down: 1 hour 9.4 mph
Average grade for the first 3.7 miles: 7.1% with a one mile stretch with an 8.9% average grade
Average grade for the rest of the climb: 6.5% - 6.8%
I’m a little disappointed in the 1.5 hour time for the climb. I could do the climb faster. I took it easy because my left leg was not very happy and I wasn’t sure how I’d be feeling at the end of the ride.
I did most of the descent without using the brake. I did break down and use the brake for the last 1.5 miles because my knees were complaining and the grade was getting steeper. The brake is a very nice thing.
Marys Peak is a fun climb. I’m going to have to do it again next time I’m in Corvallis. Maybe I’ll try it with shorter cranks next time just to compare.
