10 to the Top

It used to be the case while out training/racing my bike that the slowest pace I would accept on the steeper pitches of any sustained climb would be 10 mph.

A few years back I road the 36 mile climb up to the top of Mt Haleakala (10,023') in 3:20, a pace of almost 11mph; and I thought I was off my game. Certainly not up to Vaughters standards who holds the official record of 2:36, but still not too bad for my upper 40's - but I was hoping for closer to the 3 hour mark (12 mph).

With Santa delivering a Garmin 305 under the tree I can now monitor my exact pace at any moment, and the realization is daunting (that is when I can see it because the font is too small). As age increases the climbing legs are suffering and the pace is decreasing - 9 is fine, 8 is OK, though 7 sucks, if I'm at 6 I'm probably standing still, and if I'm down to 5 check to see if I'm alive.