Planning for the mountain

I've set goals for this season. One of those goals is to get a sub-twelve minute climb of the Furman side of Paris Mountain. Today I started planning for that goal.

My idea was to climb the mountain and break it into sections. The goal for the ride was not to get a personal record, but to give it a good push. Here is how it worked out.

I rode over the mountain from the CVS side. After a short rest I started up hitting my lap button at the "attack" sign painted on the road. The first mark would be the water tower.

Start to water tower: distance .5 miles / time 3:08 / avg. mph 9.6

Water tower to first curve: distance .18 miles / time 1:15 / avg. mph 8.7

First curve to half marker: distance .43 miles / time 2:31 / avg. mph 10.2

Time for first half: 6:54

Half marker to 15 mph sign: distance .82 miles / time 5:27 / avg. mph 9

The Wall: distance .26 miles / time 1:46 / avg. mph 8.7

Time for second half: 7:13

Total time for climb: 14:07

Soooo, what does this all mean? It means I have to trim off 2:07 to reach a sub-twelve minute climb. Seems kind of hard, doesn't it? Well, remember, I have made the climb in 12:39.

The key, I believe, is the last .26 miles. Even today's ride could have been better. As I stood and shifted to make the last push up the wall, my gears started slipping. Besides being very annoying, it caused me to lose momentum. When all is said and done, I would like to lop off at least 15 to 20 seconds on this section.

This is going to be the biggest challenge I've set for myself. I'm determined to get it though.