If there is such a thing as a hill I don't like, it has got to be Esperanza, over in La Verne. I stitched together four separate loops this morning - Mountain Junction, the Upper Loop (north Claremont), Garey Loop at the western end of town, and finished up with Esperanza / Golden Hills. Esperanza is a short sucker, but when it turns up, it turns up. The worst thing about it though, is its deceptiveness. It is short, but when you are maxed out on the 13+% slope, especially at the end of a ride, the top just seems to take oh, so long to reach. I keep thinking of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Lancelot charging the castle; the scene switches back and forth between Lancelot and the castle guards, Lancelot never making up any ground, and then all of a sudden he is there. Same with Esperanza, the top is there, but when you are cranking the pedals around at a painfully slow rpm, the top takes way longer to reach than you realize. No matter how often you do it.
i had this trio in my sights way back down the road (Mt. Baldy Rd).
caught up to them at Shinn, where i turned down the hill; they kept on up
thank you fast food; unhealthy choices, and trash beside the road.
actually it is the idiots who think it is alright to dump the leftovers out their
window who i really blame
Esperanza is fun to go down. Easy 50 mph. I remember bombing down Esperanza on a rickety old 10 speed as a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI have to get back out on it. When I was SS'ing it was my training hill and up to the end of Golden Springs. Good couple of miles.
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