Greylock Time Trail 2024

Hill climbs are an interesting discipline in cycling. It's a fight against time and gravity. The miles go slow but the time goes fast. What the other riders are doing is irrelevant. It's just you and your bike, and finding a way to get to the top as fast as possible. 

Last year was my first attempt at the Greylock TT, and I set a goal to complete the 9 miles and 2,800+ feet in under an hour. I remember checking my watch occasionally throughout the ride and thinking there was no way I would make that time, and was genuinely surprised to come in under 59 minutes. 

My goal for the 2024 TT last Saturday was sub 55 minutes. It's funny, because unlike last year I actually felt really confident most of the way up that I would meet my goal, and with some time to spare. That is, until I checked my watch around mile 8 and realized I didn't have the time or the strength in the legs to make it happen, and crossed the line at 56:18.

I was a little disappointed to fall short, especially since the only place I lost time this year compared to last was the flatter sections near the top in miles 6-8. Maybe I went a little too hard in the steeper sections in the beginning, or maybe I just got too complacent in the second half. It's hard to know. Seconds are lost all too easily in a momentary lapse of focus or strength, and they are not easily made back up. A minute feels both so brief and like an eternity when it comes to something like this, especially when you are operating around 95% of your max heart rate. Still, it was a PR of over 2 minutes compared to last year, so I'll take it.

I can’t wait to come back to this event in years to come and to explore where my limits and potential are on this mountain.