It's not much compared to places with real mountains, but basically it's probably the toughest climb in texas. And there is no place to "nicely recover" because basically the peloton shreds as soon as the climbing starts and it's just max effort to the top. And the grade that Strava shows is a lie - much of that is well over 10%.

Basically most people in texas can't climb at all, especially if they're from Dallas or Houston. There's a race outside of Houston with a few minor climbs and a lot of people had serious trouble with it. The end of the race is maybe a 1/2 mile 5% grade. When we approached the finish I was dead last (long story) and I gained probably 30 positions going up that hill. Probably could have gained more but I wasn't sure we had the whole road and I got blocked up behind people.

I ride with a compact crankset and for every race I've done I've used a 11-22 rear cassette. I might bust out a 12-27 for a race like that.

The reason hills like these are a problem in races, if you're not accustomed to them, is that flat races are not like solo efforts. But climbs are always solo efforts. If a flat race is going too fast you can tuck in and survive anyway, if there are climbs you're just ****ed.

So that first link you posted has Kevin Girkins at #2 at 14.7 mph. He's one of the strongest amateur riders in texas. He had a solo win at both of his races last weekend I think, just way off the front of the pack. That is generally a very difficult thing to do around here because it's so flat. Judging by the list I bet my very best effort could get me up that hill at sub-13mph. I've never experienced anything like that.

(My record up the 'hill' to my house is probably at something like 22 or 23 mph. It's not super steep but most people around here would consider it a climb)

I'm not sure how closely you read the page, but in case you missed it the extra $15 is if you want to be part of the hill climbing competition. They do give out some cash prizes, I believe.

I haven't seen the climb myself, but I was reading some descriptions and parts of it average 17% for some distance. That's pretty steep, even for a climber.

Not closely at all, I just noticed the price difference

Weigh in day today, 185.2 up .8 this week. Down 3.8 overall, 11 weeks.

I might have to start doing the 7 day rolling avg per Rusty. I've been as low as 183.5 and as high as 186.2 this week. I know it's just water weight fluctuation.

Lots of rain last week, but this week is great. Last year March weather sucked, this would be summer weather in a lot of places. High mid 80's lows in the 60's. Go global warming.

I heart my rolling average. I should post a picture of it in my log or something.

Hey Rusty, I know it's a long way off, but I seem to do better when I set far off goals. I would do the Fort Davis ride in 2017, if you are game? We could make it a tentative plan to meet out there, subject to life events, etc.

Ok, sure. It's hard for me to give a really solid commitment this far out, but I'll put it on my calendar

Yeah, understood.

Weigh in day today, 185.0 down .2 this week. Down 4 overall, 12 weeks.

Rode Saturday and Sunday in Texas spring like weather, rides started in the low 40's and ended in the mid 50's with a pretty strong north wind. Ended up with a sore throat Sunday afternoon. I had a dental surgery yesterday that I had scheduled last week, so overall not feeling too great. Hopefully I can take a day or two to recover and then get back on schedule for the weekend.

Weigh in day today, 184.4 down .6 this week. Down 4.6 overall, 13 weeks.

Still dealing with chest congestion and cough issues. Didn't get much meaningful work down last week. I feel like I need a week of 80 degree weather to shake this crude, but doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon.

Yeah I have a cough every year from about feburary to the end of march. I think I'm probably mildly allergic to something. Kinda sucks.

Yeah, this is feeling more like allergies than a cold. As you said, it is probably a mild allergy because I'm not sure it happens every year at the same time, but who knows. Feeling like I might be on the upswing, so hoping by the weekend I'll be good.

Weigh in day today, 185.0 up .6 this week. Down 4.0 overall, 14 weeks.

I'm not too dismayed by extremely slow progress on weight goal. I'm feeling better, the weather should be getting better, and I had two weeks of pretty low workload. I'm happy I didn't put on a pound or two. I also don't have a yellow spot on my chest.

On the troubling side, I've had some low level pain in my right hip area on and off since probably November. I don't think it is bike related, as at that time I wasn't doing hardly any bike riding, I was doing all body fitness classes. Yesterday that pain flared up to a point where I don't think I can ignore it. I'm pretty sure it's muscular as opposed to joint pain, and I don't believe it is an acute injury. Beyond that I'm not sure what the cause / cure will be. I've done some googling and I will be doing some hip abductor stretches as well as the static back press and see if those help.
The pain is mostly on the upper hip, on the outside part of my leg heading down into the groin. Sort of wraps around the top of the hip from the spine down towards the groin.
It doesn't seem to really bother me on the bike, but sitting at my desk yesterday was less than comfortable.
I did a CP 30 test on Saturday. I think I heeded the warnings to not go out too fast a little too much, the first 10 minutes my average power was 157 watts, the last 20 minutes was 167 watts.
I know that is probably laughably low, but on the plus side I've only been doing mostly zone 1 and 2 riding, and those numbers are right where I was at the height of last summer. I should be able to increase that number once I start doing more tempo riding.

Weigh in day today, 186.0 up 1 this week. Down 3.0 overall, 15 weeks. Lolz

Weigh in day today, 185.2 down .8 this week. Down 3.8 overall, 16 weeks.

A good non cycling fitness book:
http://www.amazon.com/Which-Comes-Fi.../dp/006200753X

So, it only took me 14 months to act on this advice. But I now have a chain whip, a cassette lock ring tool, and two freewheel hubs and two cassettes. I bought an 11-32 cassette and installed it Friday, and tested it on Saturday on the biggest hill I know off in the area. I think it will be quite useful to have the granny gear for my upcoming rides.
I think I may also buy an 11-25 cassette and shelf the 11-28 that I've been using. I think the 11-25 will be fine for rides in this area and when I go somewhere hillier I'll use the 11-32.

Weigh in day today, 184.2 down 1 this week. Down 4.8 overall, 17 weeks.

I went ahead and registered for the Triple last week. I started getting nervous about the ride filling up, they have a 2500 rider cap. So I'm committed now, no backing out.

that's always a good strategy. no backing out! gogogo.

and enjoy the 11-32 cassette, i wanted to buy one last year as well. (now i'm not sure if it's still useful, we'll see how the climbing goes when the snow has melted, hehe).

Thanks, I'm in it to finish it, now!

On my test ride I rode the same 1.2 mile @ 6% (first part is 10-12%) hill twice. On the first pass I didn't allow myself to use the 32 tooth, gear, and the 28 was fine. On the second pass 25 miles later I needed the 32. I think it will come in handy when I get tired.

I once showed up to one of these weekly hill rides they do near here. 25ish miles, 2500 feet of climbing, most of the climbs are the worst ones in austin. I didn't really know what to expect (a friend told me to come) so I showed up with a 11-23 casette. I was the first person to the top of hill #1, the last person to the top of hills 2-5 and I probably had to walk some of the rest. That was some ****. Definitely gets harder as you get tired.

yeah, spinning & spinning, all day long baby!

That was the lesson I learned in the ECC last fall. The 11-32 is as low as I go though!

I would need a new deraileur for anything bigger than a 32. Or a smaller chain ring.

That is the plan. I've been looking at some of the TBP rides on Strava, trying to get an idea of what wattage is feasible. I've seen some guys take ~12 hours elapsed with 10.5 to 11 of that moving. This is close to what I'm shooting for:
https://www.strava.com/activities/365055994#8714390516

Weigh in day today, 183.4 down .8 this week. Down 5.6 overall, 17 weeks.

So, I splurged $5 and bought a book I've seen recommended on here many times, the Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto. I'm about 100 pages in. The first half is a little bit too new age touchy feely for me, but I don't think I have a lot of emotional ties to eating, and I'm sure a lot of people do and that may help them. My problem is mindless eating, and he does talk about that as well. I'll reserve full judgment until I finish the book.

One story I liked from the book, is the fisherman's story of how if you catch one crab, you need a lid on the bucket to keep him in. If you catch several crabs you don't need a lid, because the others will pull back on any crab that tries to escape.

I've certainly experienced that. My Mother in law told me I've lost enough, I'm too thin. That was around the time I had a dexa scan that showed I was still around 30% BF. Sure, I was thinner than I used to be, but hardly too thin. My well meaning wife has told me I don't really need to lose weight, just "tone a little". A co worker expressed her concern that I was wasting away, and hoped I wasn't sick.

For myself, I would like to get to < 20% bf. That is why I bought the book. I probably "know" everything I need to know to get there, but sometimes seeing it laid out in a plan is helpful and having it reinforced confirms I'm on the right track, hopefully.

Weigh in day today, 187.0 up 3.6 this week. Down 2 overall, 18 weeks.

Meh. This really is an anomaly based on the previous readings over the week, but today is the official weigh in day so there it is. What makes it a little surprising is I've been doing a much better job of logging my intake the past two weeks which is usually a key for me to lose.

Pretty much finished the Venuto book. I think it is good advice, but it pretty much the FAQ with a little bit of reasoning and motivation behind it.
FAQ

In a Nutshell
Q. I'm too lazy to read the whole FAQ. Could you give me cliff's notes?
A. Here you go:
(1) Eat when hungry, and eat reasonably
(2) Eat adequate protein (1-1.5g/lb lean body mass)
(3) Remove as much processed food from the diet as possible
(4) Train intelligently and avoid being sedentary if possible
(5) Supply adequate nutrients around training
(6) Make sure you are recovering reasonably and getting good sleep.