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General Category >> Upcoming Rides >> Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
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Message started by robert.j on Oct 2^nd, 2008, 8:47am

Title: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by robert.j on Oct 2^nd, 2008, 8:47am

Anyone else planning on riding this? It was a good ride the last two years. Climbing "The Wall" is definitely a challenge. So far I haven't been able to get up it on a recumbent, but closer each year.

http://www.paluxypedal.com/

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by bikerteam on Oct 2^nd, 2008, 12:15pm

Robert - you know I'll be there. I've done it every year!

For those who haven't done this ride, you need to. It's absolutely beautiful and challenging, plus they serve tons of pizza at the end.

For those who have done any of the LSR rides around Cleburne/Glen Rose, some of the roads will be familiar. However, none of them climb "the wall", but this one does. It's roughly 1/2 mile, but it's 21%. Impossibly to ride on a DF without standing. 90% of the riders have to walk....

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by mleuck on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 3:30am

robert.j wrote:

Interesting, I thought it was the worst pay ride I did last year because of the 10+ miles of chipseal on 205, judging by the ride reviews I wasn't the only one.

I may be there, haven't decided yet

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 8:49am

A half mile of 21%??? Good lord.... Where do you find something like that around here to even PRACTICE on??? The Beast in Tyler is only 11%...

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 8:54am

Mark Leuck -- You're pictured in Paluxy Pedal's photo set on Flickr -- shot # 86...

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by robert.j on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 10:04am

FlyingLaZBoy wrote:

A half mile of 21%??? Good lord.... Where do you find something like that around here to even PRACTICE on??? The Beast in Tyler is only 11%...

The hill up Burton Hill Road gets pretty close. It's probably 15-18% for 1/3 mile. I can get up it without too much trouble. That extra 2% grade or so makes a huge difference on The Wall. We occasionally do Burton Hill on our Thursday evening ride from downtown Fort Worth. Burton Hill runs between White Settlement and Byers on the near west side of Fort Worth. The hill itself lies between Merrick and Byers. You can make a challenging and fun loop by turning west at the top of the hill on Byers, make a right (north) at Horne/Roaring Springs (a really nice long downhill. You can pass the cars if that gives you a thrill!), turn right on Fursman through the neighborhood, and then right again on Burton Hill. You can also go up Merrick, but it's extremely steep - gotta be 25% or more. No way I'll ever get up it on a bike. Some of my upright friends can get up it OK. A couple of guys were killed trying to go down Merrick on bikes back when I was in High School.
Should be able to locate it on Mapquest or whatever.
Another tip - I would never go down Burton Hill. There's a stop sign at the bottom of the hill and oncoming cars don't have a stop sign and can turn onto Merrick in front of you. Just too risky on that steep of a hill.

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by evblazer on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 10:40am

From bikely route called the wall..
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2910110784_df5e2b082e.jpg?v=0
They got a ski lift?? I don't know how i'd successfully stop on that hill to get off the bike except to fall off.
http://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/injured.gif

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by mleuck on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 1:48pm

evblazer wrote:

Last year I made it up maybe 200 feet before having to walk it and if I recall most people did the same, the boy scouts at the rest summit rest stop still gave me a "The wall" patch. It wasn't one of my best moments especially when I later got an email from a photo company wanting me to buy a pic of me pushing the Baron uphill..

MY SHAME!!!!

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by bikerteam on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 2:36pm

But the patches (while small) are sure cool. I have 5 of them, one for each year... I've ridden my DF every year, and have never had to walk. This will be my first year on a bent, and there is no way with my gearing to make it up.

I wonder if a LWB would tip over in the steeper parts of the climb, especially a bike like the Xtreme, where so much of your weight is on the rear wheel.

Mark, you're right. The rest stop at the top is pretty cool, as you see 99% of the riders walking their bikes, gasping for air.... It overlooks the Glen Rose Wild Life Park, and really cool place to go if you have time...

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 3:37pm

Wall... I mean, "Well," I'm doing the Italy 300K that day anyway, so mebbe next year....

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by evblazer on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 5:05pm

bikerteam wrote:

But the patches (while small) are sure cool. I have 5 of them, one for each year... I've ridden my DF every year, and have never had to walk. This will be my first year on a bent, and there is no way with my gearing to make it up.

I wonder if a LWB would tip over in the steeper parts of the climb, especially a bike like the Xtreme, where so much of your weight is on the rear wheel.
Mark, you're right. The rest stop at the top is pretty cool, as you see 99% of the riders walking their bikes, gasping for air.... It overlooks the Glen Rose Wild Life Park, and really cool place to go if you have time...

Heck I was wondering if my bike was going to tip over especially if I attempted the hill and bailed out on it. There was one steep hill on the aledo ride where I knew I had to make it all the way up because there was no stopping without a high risk of a nice sliding/falling event especially using road shoes.

Title: Re: Paluxy Pedal, Oct. 11
Post by robert.j on Oct 3^rd, 2008, 11:17pm

I think you'll find the bike wants to fall off to the side, not over backwards. It's extremely difficult to hold the line up the hill when you're down around 4 mph or less and pushing too hard even in your granniest gear. Last year I practiced going up some of the short steeper hills in Keller and could get down to about 2 mph (can't remember that I ever practiced going SLOW before :-?), but can't say it helped all that much. Having to push hard on the pedals just wants to turn the bike sideways to the hill.
I got about half way the first year and maybe 75% last year. It's discouraging knowing that if I could have just stayed upright like 30 more feet, the hill started leveling off and I could make it, but just can't gen up the extra effort. One of the problems, refering to Mark's profile, is that you expend quite a bit of effort getting up the longer hill just before The Wall.