week 7
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Highway 9

Week 7 of the 2011 Low-Key Hillclimb Series

Skyler Colwell crosses the line at the end of the 2100 foot climb. (Bill Bushnell)
Thanks to coordinator Lane Parker, with help from Patt Baenan, Bill Bushnell, Fred Butts, Frank Drobot, Martin Hyland, Howard Kveck, Noelle Paquet, Pom, Alec Proudfoot, and Peter Tapscott for making today's climb possible!

Photos

Report

The 2011 Low-Key Hillclimbs is entering the end game with week 7, Highway 9 out of Saratoga. We'd previously done this one in 1995 and 2006, a bit of neglect for such a classic local climb.

Group 1: Bill Bushnell went off the front as usual, in his hybrid-electric recumbent. Behind him, Tracy Colwell took control from the front of the pack on the early gradual slopes. This continued for awhile until Tracy had gapped the rest of the group, slowly riding away. Game over?

Not quite. Carl Nielson, in particular, took up the reponsibility of the chase. Tracy's gap stabilized, then started to decrease. Then as the gap was almost closed, Brian Lucido, who had been biding his time, moved up to help Carl.

Tracy was caught, but he quickly slotted in with Carl and Brian. All others had been dropped, just Carl, Brian, and Tracy were left. Then Brian made his move.

Tracy, with his early sustained effort, couldn't follow, and neither could Carl. Brian was off. Brian had been expected to make a move today: he'd accumulated volunteer credits early in the series while posting some super-impressive training rides on Strava. And now he was playing his hand.

And it was a winner. Brian pulled away from the other two to take the victory by 8 seconds ahead of a surging Tracy, who was able to drop Carl with his impressive climb-ending sprint. Carl finished a further 6 seconds gap. Then it was another 19 seconds to the next finisher, the early group shattered.

For the women, it was a rare event in Low-Key history, a women's only start. 19 women lined up as group 3, and from them Lisa Penzel put her stamp on the series with an impressive win, Helen Casabona second. Jennie Phillips and Rikke Preisler finished just behind Helen in an exciting fight for the podium.

On the team side, it was a hotly contested day. Team Low-Key was strong today, with wins in the hybrid-electric and women's divisions and 4th and 6th in the men's division. But Sisters and Misters of No Mercy was stronger: Brian and Carl delivered a 1-3 in the men's division which, combined with Jennie Phillips' podium spot in the women, sealed the deal for them on the day's top spot. Western Wheelers narrowly edged out Team San Jose and Brown Zone for third.

We had three juniors today, with Riley Auten scoring the highest, ahead of the young brothers Skyler and Liam Colwell. Low-Key loves seeing juniors tackle these challenging climbs.

Thanks to Lane Parker for his fantastic coordination of this climb, and as always thanks to the volunteers and to Howard Kveck for his excellent work as results coordinator.

Results

Strava T-shirt qualifiers indicated with orange background.

Hybrid Electric
pl # name team cat time mph fph score
1 6 Bill Bushnell Low-Key Its All About The Bike 19:42 20.31 6481 118.24

Men
pl # name team cat time mph fph score
1 523 Brian Lucido Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy Tandem 29:43 13.47 4297 126.74
2 48 Tracy Colwell Team Colwell 40+ 29:51 13.41 4277 126.17
3 248 Carl Nielson Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy M50+ 29:57 13.36 4263 125.75
4 1 Daniel Connelly Low-Key 3 30:16 13.22 4219 124.44
5 510 Clark Foy San Jose Bike Club 45+ 31:02 12.90 4114 121.36
6 44 Tim Clark Low-Key 40+ 31:25 12.74 4064 119.88
7 106 McLovin The Brown Zone 1 31:41 12.63 4030 118.87
8 144 Nils Tikkanen Bike Trip/Symantec Honey Badger 31:44 12.61 4024 118.69
8 308 Rune Dahl Western Wheelers 45+ 31:44 12.61 4024 118.69
10 7 James Porter Western Wheelers 3 31:55 12.54 4000 118.00
11 74 Rich Hill LGBRC 45+ 31:58 12.52 3994 117.82
12 59 Mark Edwards Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 32:05 12.47 3980 117.39
13 114 Steve Peck Western Wheelers 45+ 32:06 12.47 3978 117.33
14 63 Joe Fant San Jose Bike Club 50+ 32:25 12.35 3939 116.18
15 226 Tom Gardin Western Wheelers 45+ 32:33 12.29 3923 115.71
16 113 Christian Paquet Doogie 32:46 12.21 3897 114.94
17 325 Kevin Keenan Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 55+ 32:50 12.19 3889 114.71
18 246 Clark M. Natwick Pen Velo/Pomodoro 50+ 33:20 12.01 3830 112.99
19 261 Joe Sullivan San Jose Bike Club 35+ 33:29 11.95 3813 112.48
20 251 Dan Perry Bike Trip/Symantec 40+ 33:34 11.92 3804 112.20
21 133 Dai Sieh The Brown Zone Robusto 33:38 11.90 3796 111.98
22 96 Bennett Chi Lee Speedy Bees 45+/Ponytail 33:59 11.78 3757 110.83
23 124 Dave Rossow Western Wheelers 40+ 34:01 11.76 3753 110.72
24 53 J.D. Daniels Eden Bikes 35+ 34:02 11.76 3752 110.67
25 213 Andy Crews Diablo 40+ 34:27 11.62 3706 109.33
26 240 Paul McKenzie Marc Pro - Strava 55+ 34:46 11.51 3672 108.33
27 429 John Richardson Pen Velo/Pomodoro 55+ 35:01 11.43 3646 107.56
28 432 Ken Sato Bike Trip/Symantec 45+ 35:03 11.42 3643 107.46
29 112 Shance Ordell Western Wheelers 35+ 123 35:18 11.34 3617 106.69
30 61 Steven Enns Dirkless 35:20 11.33 3614 106.59
31 82 Greg Imwalle Google 30+ 35:23 11.31 3608 106.44
32 702 Nate Cauffman UID 30+ 35:30 11.27 3597 106.09
33 312 Rick Ferrell Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 35:31 11.27 3595 106.04
34 64 TOM FERREIRA Eden Bikes 45+ 35:41 11.22 3578 105.55
35 233 Alexander Komlik San Jose Bike Club 45+ 35:55 11.14 3555 104.86
36 127 Naoto Sato   45+ 35:56 11.14 3553 104.81
37 94 Jim Langley Bike Trip/Symantec 55+ 35:58 11.13 3550 104.72
38 105 Russ McCrary Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 50+ 36:03 11.10 3542 104.47
39 122 Doug Reynolds Alberto's Steak House 60+ 36:06 11.09 3537 104.33
40 92 KP The Brown Zone None Of Your Bee'S Wax 36:22 11.00 3511 103.56
41 710 Andrew Hsu Pen Velo/Pomodoro M 35+ Cat 4 36:24 10.99 3508 103.47
42 52 Rob Cosaro Doogie 50+ 36:33 10.95 3493 103.05
43 156 Matt Wocasek Bike Trip/Symantec 45+ 36:37 10.93 3487 102.86
44 332 Take Ogawa   35+ 36:40 10.91 3482 102.72
45 267 Alan Weatherall San Jose Bike Club 36:57 10.83 3455 101.93
46 720 Jory Stein Pen Velo/Pomodoro 50+ 36:59 10.82 3452 101.84
47 211 Philip Clark Google 25+ 37:00 10.82 3451 101.79
48 85 George Janour Bike Trip/Symantec 40+ 37:04 10.80 3445 101.61
49 712 Sami Laine Team Poseur 40+ 37:13 10.75 3431 101.20
50 268 Jens Weber Doogie 30+ 37:15 10.74 3428 101.11
50 709 Neal Herman Spike the Wonder Dog 55+ 37:15 10.74 3428 101.11
52 305 Gino Cetani REI 40+ 37:21 10.71 3418 100.84
53 104 Scott Martin Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 37:26 10.69 3411 100.61
54 70 Bruce Gardner Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 40+ 37:28 10.68 3408 100.52
54 315 Chris Gros-Balthazard Diablo 35+ 37:28 10.68 3408 100.52
56 700 Matt Alcorn Eden Bikes 25+ 37:31 10.67 3403 100.39
57 120 Vinay Ravuri Georgia Tech 37:46 10.60 3381 99.73
58 51 Richard Contreras Team Rhus 50+ 37:53 10.56 3370 99.42
59 435 Matthew Werner Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 37:59 10.54 3361 99.16
60 706 Alon Golan Noon Riders 35+ 38:02 10.52 3357 99.03
60 235 Mark LaForge SSL Cycling Club Club 50+ 38:02 10.52 3357 99.03
62 12 Will von Kaenel LGBRC 50+ 38:05 10.51 3353 98.90
63 119 Thomas Rabedeau SLACer 50+ 38:06 10.50 3351 98.85
64 20 Ron Abidog San Jose Bike Club 40+ 38:18 10.45 3334 98.34
64 81 Brandon Iles Google 25+ 38:18 10.45 3334 98.34
66 264 Mike Urbina Alberto's Steak House 50+ 38:19 10.44 3332 98.29
67 148 David Vrane Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 45+ 38:23 10.43 3326 98.12
68 30 George Bonanto Google 30+ 39:03 10.25 3270 96.45
69 526 Dennis Pedersen Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 39:06 10.24 3265 96.33
70 722 Peter Tapscott Webcor/Alto Velo 60+ 39:11 10.21 3259 96.12
71 334 Markus Roccaro Pen Velo/Pomodoro Master 40+ 39:26 10.15 3238 95.51
72 153 Jim Williams Alberto's Steak House 60+ 39:38 10.10 3222 95.03
73 715 Benoit Pelczar Bike Trip/Symantec 35+ 39:49 10.05 3207 94.59
74 232 Franz Kelsch Alberto's Steak House 60+ 40:02 10.00 3189 94.08
75 521 West Kurihara Team Fremont FFBC p/b Chipotle 50+ 40:03 9.99 3188 94.04
75 116 Thomas Preisler LGBRC 55+ 40:03 9.99 3188 94.04
77 35 Nic Brummell Atlas 50+ 40:06 9.98 3184 93.92
78 55 Jon Degenhardt Alameda Velo 50+ 40:07 9.98 3183 93.88
79 313 David Fitch Western Wheelers 65+++ 40:22 9.91 3163 93.30
80 108 Paul Melville Doogie 60+ 40:31 9.88 3151 92.96
81 24 MichaelsJ. Andalora   55+ 40:33 9.87 3149 92.88
82 115 Ryan Powell Team Joe Karbowski 35+ 40:42 9.83 3137 92.54
83 83 Tim Irvine LGBRC 40+ 40:47 9.81 3131 92.35
84 93 Romain Laboisse Palo Verde Velo 35+ 41:12 9.71 3099 91.42
85 42 Steve Chapel Western Wheelers 65+ 41:24 9.67 3084 90.97
86 274 Riley Auten   Junior 41:30 9.64 3077 90.75
87 32 Dan Brehmer SLACer 45+ 45:58 8.71 2778 90.51T
88 707 Gary Griffin Bike Trip/Symantec 60+ 41:46 9.58 3057 90.18
89 310 Giles Douglas Google 35+ 41:50 9.57 3052 90.03
90 704 Jim Crotty   Age: 56 41:51 9.56 3051 90.00
91 249 Jeffrey Opp Doogie 30+ 42:18 9.46 3018 89.04
92 31 Mark Boolootian Bike Trip/Symantec 50+ 42:27 9.43 3008 88.72
93 724 Walter Wang Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino 35+ 42:30 9.42 3004 88.62
94 717 Cory Roay Pen Velo/Pomodoro 50+ 42:31 9.41 3003 88.58
95 38 Patrick Callahan Buttered Muffins 40+ 42:41 9.38 2991 88.24
96 403 Bernard Bell   50+ 42:47 9.35 2984 88.03
97 716 Wayne Richardson   50+ 42:55 9.33 2975 87.76
98 243 Edward Miller SLACer 70+ 43:10 9.27 2958 87.25
99 21 Detlef Adam Bike Trip/Symantec 45+ 43:17 9.25 2950 87.02
100 68 Stephen Fong San Jose Bike Club 5 43:57 9.11 2905 85.70
101 84 Tom Jakaby Buycell 50+ 44:09 9.06 2892 85.31
102 76 Jerry Hitchcock Integrate 55+ 44:29 9.00 2870 84.67
103 160 Craig Peters Tradewinds Cycling Team 40+ 44:30 8.99 2869 84.64
104 46 Kevin Colagiovanni Team DUD 25+ 44:39 8.96 2860 84.35
105 146 Luis Valente Palo Verde Velo 50+ 45:41 8.76 2795 82.44
106 713 John McCabe Alameda Velo 40+ 46:00 8.70 2776 81.88
107 701 Clinton Bauder Team Poseur 40+ 46:04 8.69 2772 81.76
108 28 Jan Berka   45+ 46:40 8.58 2736 80.71
109 532 Frank Viggiano Palo Verde Velo 50+ 49:34 8.07 2576 75.98
110 22 Michael Ahern LGBRC 45+ 50:43 7.89 2518 74.26
111 328 Kris McQueen Diablo 35+ 52:07 7.68 2450 72.27
112 703 Bob Corman Spike the Wonder Dog 55+ 54:07 7.40 2359 69.60
113 708 Bob Gumaer UID 55:26 7.22 2303 67.94
114 711 Todd Kvamme Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino 40+ 56:27 7.09 2262 66.72
115 47 Skyler Colwell Team Colwell Junior 59:54 6.68 2132 62.88
116 400 Liam Colwell Team Colwell Junior 77:56 5.14 1638 48.33

T : tandem score

Women
pl # name team cat time mph fph score
1 250 Lisa Penzel Low-Key 45+ 37:29 10.68 3406 121.50
2 40 Helen Casabona Pen Velo/Pomodoro 50+ 38:36 10.37 3308 117.98
3 423 Jennie Phillips Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy Tandem-Onium! 38:41 10.35 3301 117.73
4 426 Rikke Preisler The Brown Zone 35+ 38:46 10.32 3294 117.48
5 131 Lynn Sestak San Jose Bike Club 50+ 39:20 10.17 3246 115.78
6 714 McLovely The Brown Zone 1 39:33 10.12 3228 115.15
7 8 Janet Martinez Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 40+ 39:45 10.07 3212 114.57
8 723 Leah Toeniskoetter The Brown Zone 3 39:55 10.03 3199 114.09
9 75 Laura Hipp Western Wheelers 4 40:58 9.77 3117 111.17
10 157 Jamie Yang   25+ 42:50 9.34 2981 106.32
11 520 Kstiv The Brown Zone 40+ 42:55 9.33 2975 106.12
12 62 Lori Fabris Plus 3 50+ 45:25 8.81 2811 100.28
13 60 Lisa Emmerich Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 50+ 48:25 8.27 2637 94.06
14 522 Winnie Lam SLACer 25+ 45:58 8.71 2778 90.51T
15 217 Danielle Dettling Rinat 30+ 51:09 7.82 2496 89.04
16 161 Dawn Adams LGBRC 40+ 53:39 7.46 2380 84.89
17 306 Alison Chaiken Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 45+ 54:08 7.39 2359 84.13
18 3 Patt Baenen Beat the Clock 45+++++ 54:33 7.34 2341 83.49
19 345 Heidi Fraser   50+ 55:58 7.15 2281 81.37
20 77 Christine Holmes Low-Key 45+ 59:12 6.76 2157 76.93
21 4 Pat Parseghian Google 55+ 63:57 6.26 1997 71.21

T : tandem score

Teams
pl team score riders
1 Sr's & Mr's of No Mercy 370.22 Brian Lucido, Carl Nielson, Kevin Keenan, Russ McCrary, Bruce Gardner, David Vrane, Jennie Phillips, Janet Martinez, Lisa Emmerich, Alison Chaiken
2 Low-Key 365.82 Bill Bushnell, Daniel Connelly, Tim Clark, Lisa Penzel, Christine Holmes
3 Western Wheelers 354.02 Rune Dahl, James Porter, Steve Peck, Tom Gardin, Dave Rossow, Shance Ordell, David Fitch, Laura Hipp, Steve Chapel
4 San Jose Bike Club 353.33 Clark Foy, Joe Fant, Joe Sullivan, Alexander Komlik, Alan Weatherall, Ron Abidog, Lynn Sestak, Stephen Fong
5 The Brown Zone 351.50 McLovin, Dai Sieh, KP, Rikke Preisler, McLovely, Leah Toeniskoetter, Kstiv
6 Bike Trip/Symantec 348.28 Nils Tikkanen, Mark Edwards, Dan Perry, Ken Sato, Rick Ferrell, Jim Langley, Matt Wocasek, George Janour, Scott Martin, Matthew Werner, Dennis Pedersen, Benoit Pelczar, Gary Griffin, Mark Boolootian, Detlef Adam
7 Pen Velo/Pomodoro 338.53 Clark M. Natwick, John Richardson, Andrew Hsu, Jory Stein, Helen Casabona, Markus Roccaro, Cory Roay
8 Doogie 319.10 Christian Paquet, Rob Cosaro, Jens Weber, Paul Melville, Jeffrey Opp
9 Eden Bikes 316.60 J.D. Daniels, TOM FERREIRA, Matt Alcorn
10 LGBRC 310.76 Rich Hill, Will von Kaenel, Thomas Preisler, Tim Irvine, Michael Ahern, Dawn Adams
11 Google 306.57 Greg Imwalle, Philip Clark, Brandon Iles, George Bonanto, Giles Douglas, Pat Parseghian
12 Alberto's Steak House 297.65 Doug Reynolds, Mike Urbina, Jim Williams, Franz Kelsch
13 Diablo 282.12 Andy Crews, Chris Gros-Balthazard, Kris McQueen
14 SLACer 279.86 Thomas Rabedeau, Edward Miller, Dan Brehmer, Winnie Lam
15 Palo Verde Velo 249.84 Romain Laboisse, Luis Valente, Frank Viggiano
16 Team Colwell 237.38 Tracy Colwell, Skyler Colwell, Liam Colwell
17 Team Poseur 182.96 Sami Laine, Clinton Bauder
18 Alameda Velo 175.76 Jon Degenhardt, John McCabe
19 UID 174.04 Nate Cauffman, Bob Gumaer
20 Spike the Wonder Dog 170.71 Neal Herman, Bob Corman
21 Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino 155.34 Walter Wang, Todd Kvamme
22 Speedy Bees 110.83 Bennett Chi Lee
23 Marc Pro - Strava 108.33 Paul McKenzie
24 Dirkless 106.59 Steven Enns
25 REI 100.84 Gino Cetani
26 Plus 3 100.28 Lori Fabris
27 Georgia Tech 99.73 Vinay Ravuri
28 Team Rhus 99.42 Richard Contreras
29 Noon Riders 99.03 Alon Golan
29 SSL Cycling Club Club 99.03 Mark LaForge
31 Webcor/Alto Velo 96.12 Peter Tapscott
32 Team Fremont FFBC p/b Chipotle 94.04 West Kurihara
33 Atlas 93.92 Nic Brummell
34 Team Joe Karbowski 92.54 Ryan Powell
35 Rinat 89.04 Danielle Dettling
36 Buttered Muffins 88.24 Patrick Callahan
37 Buycell 85.31 Tom Jakaby
38 Integrate 84.67 Jerry Hitchcock
39 Tradewinds Cycling Team 84.64 Craig Peters
40 Team DUD 84.35 Kevin Colagiovanni
41 Beat the Clock 83.49 Patt Baenen