Each summer we christen our annual road trip with a stay at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument outside of Bend, Oregon.
For the past four years, I’ve tested my fitness level against the climb to the top of Paulina Peak, at 7,984 feet. The hiking trail makes the ascent in two miles. The road for bikes in four miles.
Our first stay here came right as Covid-19 really began to shutdown the world. In fact, that’s how I stumbled upon it, desperate for a place to escape the craziness and get out to nature.
So as I rode out from the campground to assault the peak in the first days of July that year, I had what I call my Covid-fitness.
When Covid ended my job as a magazine editor as well as part-time substitute teacher on the same day (March 31), I jumped on my bike. Between then and the outset of July, I had not ridden just three or four days. I was flying (for me)!
I didn’t think much about timing myself, because I seldom do. But I noted the time on my phone and started crunching up the gravel road.
When I arrived at the top, a sweet young woman with a mountain bike on the back of her Subaru asked me about the climb. How long did it take you?
If she hadn’t asked, I would never have checked, since finding a way to get some oxygen into my lungs at that altitude while wondering breathlessly if I’d caught Covid on the way up dominated my thoughts.
Ah, 55 minutes I said.
Each year since, I’ve measured myself, which, again, is unique for me. I must put in here that I’m not totally certain exactly when I started my clock that day in 2020. It might have been at the road, where I start it now. It might have been at the trailhead about half mile up.
In any event, I’ve managed to keep my time right around 60 minutes. I’ve done it five times on three different bikes now.
This week’s question: Do you have an annual fitness test?
There is a 9 mile loop at the local singletrack park near my home. I use that as a fitness test. I think my best is about 52 minutes. Lately I am lagging, doing it in about an hour. Part of that was that I got Covid twice last fall and it made a mess of my cardiovascular system.
The real acid test is Hyde Park Road up to the ski basin at 10,300. Getting ready for that now that I have the cardiologist’s all clear.
There’s a 12.5 mile loop from my house, mostly singletrack. I don’t have a time I’m trying to hit, but just a feeling. I used to run it in 2hrs. Before I demolished my ankle.
My friend has a 10 mile MTB loop that starts and finishes at his property. It is about 50/50 singletrack/rough jeep trail with a hike-a-bike thrown in for good measure. If I’m in good shape and determined I can complete the lap in 1 hour. The DF loop reminds me that I haven’t been in “good” shape for a few years!
I do a ride from Williamstown MA up Mt. Greylock and back every year. About 30 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing. Goal is 3 hours riding time. Think it’s been about 15 years now.