left: John, birthday challenge face in full force, rides toward the summit.

Steve and I expected a relatively flat cycle leg, because that was what we would do. John had different plans and had made a route with some pretty tough climbing. It started out with a short Sunset loop in Redlands, which involves about 4 or 5 miles of relatively mellow climbing. This was a pretty good warm-up for what was coming. We then headed away from Redlands and started to climb towards Oak Glen. I should have known that this might be difficult since they used it for one of stages during the Redlands’ Classic.

right: All smiles at the start

I was still pretty banged up from my challenge when I heard about John's. I wanted to take part so I signed-on for only the bike, figuring it would be the easy part. I hadn't ridden since my challenge ended, 5-weeks prior. I figured that since  John was doing a half-ironman he wouldn't have too tough a ride and even when I heard that he added a climb I still thought it'd be a breeze.

On the first climb I began to get suspicious and said to Reed, "This isn't the climb, is it?"

left: hmmm, I hope we're not going up there

The climb was 6.5 miles of fairly stiff climbing preceded by a couple of miles of light climbing. By the beginning of the climb I was way behind John and Steve. I was absolutely crawling. I was always in my smallest gear and usually was out of the saddle because I couldn’t turn the pedals while sitting down. I was so far behind that I was ready to ask Jen to give me a map of the route and to tell John and Steve to continue on without me. 

right: john and steve ride away

above: pulling at the base of the hill

I still thought I would probably be okay and tried to pull for John as much as possible. I took a long pull on the lower flanks of the mountain and felt my legs starting to go. A few minutes later John said, "This is a pretty conversational pace" and I knew I was about to lose him.

He rode off as I dropped into a lower gear and just tried to spin up the hill. I kept John is sight, thinking if he really started to falter that I could step it up and help him, although I really, really didn't want this to happen. At one point I saw John start to weave. Thinking he might need me, I grabbed a gear and started to catch him. I was getting close when he recovered and again picked up his pace. This bit of effort killed me and from then on he kept pulling further and further ahead until he was out of sight.

Since I didn't know the hill and I wanted to be able to finish the ride, I decided to stop when I saw Jen's car at a store. I ate because I was vastly under-nourished then noticed a sign that read Oak Glen. I thought I'd heard that this was the summit so I rode on right away.

Jen:

It was a long and winding climb . . . . . and it was the centerpiece of the Fieldhouse Birthday Challenge. As road support, I had the easy job: follow the nice legs, er, cyclists, and tote gear and supplies. About 6 miles into the 56-mile ride, with nothing but climbing as far as the eye could see, I couldn't have been happier to have an engine at my disposal and not be peddling.

Fieldhouse, however, seemed like an engine - climbing steadily and rapidly and hardly showing signs of exertion. He only stopped three times - twice for water and food, and once at the top of the monster climb to savor the moment. A moment worth savoring, indeed.

right: where'd my support go?

above: a lonely climb

Finally after what seemed like an hour of climbing I reached the summit and started screaming down the descent, hitting 43 miles an hour at one point. I caught up to everyone in the middle of a rest break.

Steve:

I was uncertain I was on the correct road on the descent until John passed me. I was so tired at the summit that I rode right by him--although I think I was looking at some exposed rock up a canyon--while he was taking a break. We took a break at the base and when Jen told us that Reed was 3-miles back considered leaving until we remembered the way he can recover so well in the middle of a ride (like his birthday challenge). Reed showed up a few minutes later and, as we thought he might, hammered all the way home.

Reed:

The last part of the ride was fairly mellow, but we ended up in a pace line hammering really hard down San Timoteo canyon. This was almost as hard as the climb because of how hard we were pushing, but it was a lot more fun. We rarely fell below 20 miles an hour and were frequently above 25 mph. When we hit Redlands we needed a few miles more and John wanted to do some very mellow climbing to finish it off. I was dead and wanted no part of it. Fortunately I convinced him to do a couple of easy laps around Redlands, and then we were done with the cycling

right: team speefnarkle protects the orange jersey

John was a monster. Back on flat, easy terrain he kept leaving Reed and I behind. We felt we'd done our part and were cruising home but John still had more to go. I remembered how different a mental state you get in when it's your own challenge and said to Reed, "John's got his birthday challenge face on".

John:

The bike was fantastic; the climbing being, perhaps, the most challenging part. The descent was fast and rewarding, while the slight downhill on San Tim Rd. was a constant fight against the wind (trading drafts was my favorite part of the ride, thanks for pulling me through guys!).

left: John takes a pull