Col de Lystra

[piper_chuck]

I decided yesterday was the day I was going to take on the legendary Col de Lystra. I had warmed up by doing, and surviving, an assault on Jack Bennett a couple times. I hadn't ridden much in the last month, so I was a bit apprehensive about tackling the "big hill".

I set out on my ride continually reminding myself to go easy because I needed to save my strength. My approach to the hill was from the 64 end of Big Woods. When I got to the intersection of Big Woods and Jack Bennett I took a brief break to stretch, collect my thoughts, and decide if I was ready for Lystra. I knew that my options for getting home at that point were, in decreasing order of difficulty, Lystra, Jack Bennett, or retracing my path on Big Woods and then going up the hill on 64 West of Jordan lake.

I couldn't come up with an excuse to not tackle the goal I had set out for myself, so I took a swig of my special go juice, water, and made the fateful right hand turn on Jack Bennett. For those not familiar with the area, this leads to Lystra rather than going up the hill toward 15-501. The ride from this point until the dreaded mountain is actually not bad. It's nearly flat and the pavement is pretty good. As I was approaching the bottom of the hill I realized I had been rolling along pretty, for me.

But then reality hit, ahead of me was the start of the hill. It looked more like a wall! I started wondering if I was thinking straight? Why was I even contemplating riding up this thing? I've been down it several times, so I know how long it goes on. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, I had put myself in a situation where going up Lystra had become the best choice. I was more than half way into my ride and backtracking, wimping out, would actually be worse because it would be much farther, and still had big hills.

So, I took a couple more swigs of the magic brew, shifted to the littlest ring, gritted my teeth, and started grinding my way up. If I hadn't already scoped out the hill both down, on bike, and up, in my car, the first turn would have been a heart breaker. For the unacquainted, the hill has many of those spots where you think the end is just around that next turn, only to find out that there is still more hill after the turn.

Part way up the hill I thought I was in trouble. I had been keeping my heart rate at a level I knew I could sustain for a while, but that was far from comfortable. Continuing to grind it out would be tough, but I could manage. And then my right knee started to feel funny. Immediate thoughts of how the heck am I going to get home with a blown knee started running through my mind. I eased off the pace a bit, not easy to do considering how slow I was already going, and shifted position a bit. Magically, after a couple more revolutions, the knee discomfort disappeared entirely. All I can figure is that some combination of intensity, sitting position, and leg position was bothering one of the many tendons or ligaments on my knee. I heard not a peep of complaint from said knee for the rest of the ride and it's fine today.

So, I kept on pushing myself one pedal stroke after another up the hill. When I finally got to the top I heard a familiar sound behind me. Sure enough, a tall, lanky, younger, and obviously in much better shape rider had been chasing me up the hill. Based on the speed at which he passed me, the hill was definitely less of a challenge to him than me. However, he did say hi as he blew past me. A check of the computer at the bottom and top of the hill said my average speed dropped 1 mph during the ascent.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Headed South on 15-501 and then turned off toward home. When I got home and recorded my stats I discovered that my average was .5 mph faster than my best ride up Jack Bennett, so it seems like all this work is paying off.

I think August is going to be a good month. In the first 4 days I've already got 49.7 miles.

[Zonda]

Way to go Chuck!:hyper:

[Da Newb]

Lystra is hella fun..
The first time i tried it was during Cup & Cone (metric +) couple weeks ago, i get to see it for myself what the fuss is all about... 6.7Mph was as fast as i can go climbin up.. The first hill was a bit faster and i was like what's the big deal is all about, but then i saw the second ascent was steeper by much and i was like.. Heere we go...
Second time I was there which was a week ago, it was a much shorter ride, it's just as challenging as the first time.. Love it..

[TomG]

Nice write up. Good Job! Now it's time to ride Bynum Ridge. :)

Funny story to add...

Back in the day when I actually had friends that liked to ride :) we took a little ride out that way. I cannot remember the exact route we took but in went up Lystra. The day we went out there they were repaving the hill so they had one lane closed. We had to come to a complete stop right at the speed limit sign just before the climb started so forget about having any momentum or pace going. On top of that, we had to follow a truck up the hill....in the opposite lane. This is were it got interesting. When you ride on the left side of the road (which I do not recommend or endorse) the grade of the road is significantly less. I was able to spin about 100 RPMS all the way up and I was not in my lowest gear. I could not get over how much easier it was to climb. I was barely winded when we reached the top. I took that to heart when I rode B2B last year. Every switch back I came to I tried to ride as far out in the turn as possible.

[piper_chuck]

Nice write up. Good Job! Now it's time to ride Bynum Ridge. :)

Why, is that worse? I'm being a bit sarcastic because Bynum ridge is actually my short hill ride. I do something of an out and back that takes me from Mt Gilead Church Road across Bynum Ridge, down through Bynum, up 15-501, and back across Bynum Ridge to Mt Gilead Church Road. The whole ride is only 9.5 miles, but it does give me some hill practice. I do this loop a couple times a month and many of my other rides have me on Bynum Ridge going out or returning home.

Edit: I just looked back at my log. In the beginning of July I did a loop that had me going up Jack Bennett and returning home on Bynum ridge (the 15-501 to Mt Gilead Church direction).


Funny story to add...

Back in the day when I actually had friends that liked to ride :) we took a little ride out that way. I cannot remember the exact route we took but in went up Lystra. The day we went out there they were repaving the hill so they had one lane closed. We had to come to a complete stop right at the speed limit sign just before the climb started so forget about having any momentum or pace going. On top of that, we had to follow a truck up the hill....in the opposite lane. This is were it got interesting. When you ride on the left side of the road (which I do not recommend or endorse) the grade of the road is significantly less. I was able to spin about 100 RPMS all the way up and I was not in my lowest gear. I could not get over how much easier it was to climb. I was barely winded when we reached the top. I took that to heart when I rode B2B last year. Every switch back I came to I tried to ride as far out in the turn as possible.
Sounds like a good strategy, riding toward the outside on switchbacks, not the part about going up in the wrong lane! :D

[TomG]

I think Bynum Ridge and Lystra are apples to oranges. I personally like Bynum Ridge more although I usually have 30+ miles in my legs before I get out there depending on the route.

[Pugslyyy]

I think Bynum Ridge and Lystra are apples to oranges. I personally like Bynum Ridge more although I usually have 30+ miles in my legs before I get out there depending on the route.

+1. Lystra is over with pretty quick, while Bynum just seems to go on and on. I like the pedestrian bridge crossing of the Haw River as well - very scenic.

The NCBC Summer Metric hits both, and is a nice route from the Harris Visitors Center.

[TracyW]

We did Lystra on the Cup and Cone ride a couple weeks also. At the top, Mary asked...is that it?

[RoverDave]

We did Lystra on the Cup and Cone ride a couple weeks also. At the top, Mary asked...is that it?

Looks like we all need to get into Kathy and Mary's climbing school...

I think their secret is they just watch old 80's cycling movies and get super pumped before the rides and just kill it....


WTG Chuck! Keep up the hard work!

[TracyW]

Truely. Kathy an Mary are hill climbing monsters. Angie is in the training program and she is walking away from people on hills.

[angieM]

I'm getting there slowly but surely; thanks to my two terrific teachers Master Tracy and Master Mary who are the true monsters on the hill climbs; I bow in both your presence. ;)Truely. Kathy an Mary are hill climbing monsters. Angie is in the training program and she is walking away from people on hills.

[Pugslyyy]

Looks like we all need to get into Kathy and Mary's climbing school...

I think their secret is they just watch old 80's cycling movies and get super pumped before the rides and just kill it....

Don't forget training with Eddie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfv2diohUXE

[RoverDave]

I need a helmet that looks like a cowboy hat!!!!

Can we get Loggin to chase us?

[Pugslyyy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLZxk1qccI4

This tribute to road cycling combines clips from "Breaking Away" and "American Flyers" with footage of the 2003 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's 5th victory. Highlights include commentary by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.

[jvp]

Rode lystra for the first time yesterday - I parked at the base, rode up it, turned around and descended to my car. Didn't really see what the big deal was. Actually I started from Harris Lake park and hit lystra at about mile 20. It wasn't too bad (39/26) mostly because it didn't seem too long. It was quite steep though. I ended up w/ 51 miles, the last 15 or so were tougher than the lystra climb, mainly from saddle fatique (I was trying out a new saddle, bad idea on a longish ride). Overall a nice ride w/ some occasional cooling drizzle thrown in.

[RickF]

I think Bynum Ridge and Lystra are apples to oranges.


I agree. Bynum Ridge is in the same category with Damascus Church, Ghoston, and Johnson Pond (Smile Hill). Those are short and steep, where Lystra is just long but not nearly as steep. For the record, here is what I calculate for the "big hills" I have ridden around here:

Damascus Church Road from where it crosses the creek to half way between McNeil Road and Little Spring Road
148 feet of climb
0.51 miles
(290 feet/mile - 5.5%)

Bynum Ridge from where it crosses the creek to Pokeberry Lane
226 feet of climb
0.88 miles
(256 feet/mile - 4.9%)

Ghoston from New Light to Hawk Hollow Lane
135 feet of climb
0.64 miles
(210 feet/mile - 4.0%)

Johnson Pond (Smile Hill) from where it crosses the creek to just past Bentwillow Drive
135 feet of climb
0.65 miles
(207 feet/mile - 3.9%)

Lystra from Sam Jones Road to Fellowship Drive
312 feet of climb
2.07 miles
(150 feet/mile - 2.9%)

[piper_chuck]

Rick, are you saying Bynum Ridge is one of the tougher hills in the area? I've been riding it a couple times a month, out and back, and had no idea! :eek: I just knew it was close to home and gives me good practice on hills. :)

[RickF]

Rick, are you saying Bynum Ridge is one of the tougher hills in the area? I've been riding it a couple times a month, out and back, and had no idea! :eek: I just knew it was close to home and gives me good practice on hills. :)

Of the ones I ride regularly, Bynum Ridge is the steepest, but we are in the Piedmont and not in the mountains, so everything is relative. I am sure there are some other short, steep hills in the area, but not ones that stick out in my mind like the five I listed above. There might be a climb longer than than Lystra, but I do not know what it might be.

Perhaps we should have people submit their favorite climbs in the Triangle. We could count anything that is at least 0.50 miles long and at least 150 feet of climb per mile.

[KarenG]

y'all need to get to WNC and ride. :D

riding in the mtns will put these "hills" around here into perspective. and, i'm not knocking on anyone who's ridden the ones around here and think that they are hard...they are for us flatlanders. riding more hills will just make you a better climber and put it all in perspective. :)

[TomG]

Just riding the 42 mile loop on 3MM will put all the hills around in perspective. Everything between the three climbs are pretty tough and there is nothing around here that even comes close to that amount of climbing. It's ~3600 feet of climbing over 42 miles. The best part is that it's easily a day trip kind of ride. :)

WNC is much prettier though. Riding the Parkway is just awesome.

[KarenG]

you are correct Tom. the 42mi at 3MM had some serious "hills" in it.

[piper_chuck]

y'all need to get to WNC and ride. :D

riding in the mtns will put these "hills" around here into perspective. and, i'm not knocking on anyone who's ridden the ones around here and think that they are hard...they are for us flatlanders. riding more hills will just make you a better climber and put it all in perspective. :)
Doing at least one mountain ride was on my wish list for this year, but alas, it's not going to happen.

[KarenG]

that's too bad...some good riding up on the BRP. :)

[piper_chuck]

Since the conditions were perfect and I didn't feel too bad after yesterday's beer ride, I decided to do hills again today. I lengthened the distance I rode before Lystra and added Bynum Ridge to the return home. On paper, the total climb may not seem as steep, but on the real climbing sections of Lystra, versus the less steep parts, I was at least 1 mph slower than the pac e I maintained up Bynum Ridge. Since I rode Bynum Ridge after already going up Lystra, it seemed to me that Lystra is the harder of the two.

[piper_chuck]

that's too bad...some good riding up on the BRP. :)
Yes, it is too bad. I've only got 3 weekends of "freedom" left (if I see you on an OMV or other ride, I'll explain what that means). One is already booked for the Jimmy V ride, another for one of my other hobbies, and I will probably spend Labor Day weekend riding the real flatlands at Sunset Beach. I thought about going to the mountains for Labor Day weekend, but it's hard to turn down the draw of an already paid for beach weekend.

I'll keep doing my Lystra and Bynum ridge rides, try to shed more pounds, and perhaps next spring will be able to get some time in the mountains.

[KarenG]

i think i might have to just go do the harris lake/lystra loop on saturday morning now. :D

[KarenG]

mountain riding in nov/dec is fantastic!

[piper_chuck]

If you do, consider returning on the West side of the lake. This would let you add Bynum Ridge and some other interesting hills, along with some pretty scenery, to your return trip to Harris Lake park.

[Jackson]

Rode from Cary to Chapel Hill this weekend, some pretty steep climbs on that ride, wasn't much paying attention to the roads though, just following the pack.

[Bob]

You can always try these on for size. I think they get close to 2800-3000 feet of climbing.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/nc/holly+springs/662118369

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/nc/holly+springs/641146617

Something different.

Bob