Our 4-day Climbing Challenge has come to an end!
By Alison Powers, ALP Cycles Coaching
Our 4-day Climbing Challenge has come to an end. The Challenge was just that, it was challenging and hard. The 4 days of climbing over and over again, on top of our Saturday ALP Ride got people out of their comfort zones. It forced them to do things on their bikes that they would not normally do. It forced mental toughness by pushing through the fatigue, fear, and discomfort. This year's climbing challenge results are really impressive. Twenty riders joined the Challenge, and five climbed over 20,000ft in the 4 days.
Our winner, ALP Athlete Lynne Anderson, was motivated and up for the challenge. She was creative with her routes, her time allotment (11hrs), and finished with 23,051 ft in 10 hours and 58min. Lynne participated in our ALP Climbing ride on Saturday and followed the rules of the challenge to a ‘T’. Congratulations Lynne! Really impressive!
Second place goes to ALP athelte Marisa Rorabaugh. Marisa completed the challenge on her own in New Hampshire and Vermont. Marisa made a comment on her Saturday ride that sums up the goal of this challenge (to do more than you though you were capable of)- "So today was kind of awesome because it was badass. I got thoroughly rained on. But I managed to do the Bolton Access Rd 3 and a half times! Which is something that NOBODY does so that makes me feel pretty good." Great job Marisa! You had the least amount of time to climb and you made the most of it.
Third place goes to ALP athelte Steve Harrop who climbed 21,548ft in 10.5 hours. He chose to do climbing repeats on Flagstaff and Magnolia (from Boulder) to get his vertical. Well done Steve!
As judges of the event, ALP coaches had to pay attention to everyone's rides to make sure they included ALL their ride times (including descending), and did not go over their ride time allotment for their age (we had do some DQ'ing).
Special shoutout to ALP athelte Kate Hrubes who lives in St Louis. To achieve her vertical the first two days of the challenge she did 126 repeats of ~30sec and 18ft of elevation.
Great job to everyone who participated and pushed themselves outside their own comfort zones. You are now a better bike rider because of it.
We now present to you our top 10 finishers in this year's ALP Cycles Coaching Climbing Challenge.
1. Lynne Anderson 10h 58min 23,051ft
2. Marisa Rorabaugh 9h 59min 22,494ft
3. Steve Harrop 10h 24min 21,548ft
4. Tamira Jenlink 10h 22min 21,096ft
5. Rachel Plessing 9h 55min 19,447ft
6. Terry Petersen 10h 56min 18,212ft
7. Libby Russell 10h 24min 16,013ft
8. Alison Powers 9h 14min 15,935ft
9. Kate Hrubes 9h 43min 13,596ft
10. Kathy Hix 10h 24min 13,116ft
For the top 3 finishers, you win ALP Cycles prizes. Expect an email with your prize. Great job and enjoy some rest and recovery.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alison Powers only recently retired from cycling, finishing her final season on the UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team. Her career has spanned a wide array of wins, including the 2013 USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship where she won in memorable fashion by soloing after an early breakaway that obliterated the pro women’s peloton. Other standout results during the 33-year-old’s 2013 season include the win at Redlands Bicycle Classic, second at the Tour of Elk Grove, third at the US National Road Championship and the US National Time Trial Championship, and stage wins at Cascade Classic, Tulsa Tough, Tour of the Gila and Redlands Bicycle Classic. Hailing from Fraser, Colorado, Powers has been racing bikes professionally for eight years and is a true athlete with her career beginning as a teenager in mountain bike racing. In her mid 20s, she added in alpine ski racing before switching over to the road. In addition to being the current Criterium National Champion, Powers has two other national championships (Time Trial, Team Pursuit) and 2 NRC titles (2009, 2013).
