It’s been a long, hot summer of fast road racing here in the city. So, last weekend, TBD racers, Dana, Matt and Ben slowed things down by racing to the summit of the country’s toughest climb, Mount Washington. This is the race to the sky.

The road up Mount Washington is 7.5 miles. A short distance to ride on a bike, by any stretch of the imagination. Most people would comfortably cover that two or three times in an hour. In most park races you’ll be eating up that distance almost four times over.

This year, Phil Gaimon set the KOM time up Mount Washington of 50 minutes and 3 seconds. Let that sink in for a second. For the best part of an hour, the fastest person ever to ascend the climb, did so at basically jogging pace.

It’s not just that Mount Washington is steep (it is) or long, it’s completely unrelenting. You hit the bottom and think “this cannot possibly be how it’s going to be for the next hour”. And yet, it is. It’s a breathtaking, punishing topographic freak… and the perfect place for a bike race.

Winner, Phil Gaimon, running into difficulty at the finish line. Image by Joe Viger.

We left New York (and sea-level) early to embark on our seven-hour journey north. I don’t think any of us had registered how far north Mount Washington is. In our heads, it was somewhere in the Ver-necticu-chussetts blob of New England a few hour’s drive up. It is not.

After many coffees and sour gummies, we arrived. A quick tune-spin among the beautiful New Hampshire hills and we were ready for the following day.

There’s not much to say about the race itself. It goes straight up and it hurts for an hour– it involves zero strategy. But, in a way, that makes the event more enjoyable. There isn’t really any pressure– with the caliber of rider in attendance, most of us aren’t competing to win. Everybody seems to be there to have fun and hit their target time. The whole thing might be the closest thing cycling has to a marathon.

Everyone rolls out in waves, starting with the most elite riders. After a rollout of 500 meters or so, you hit the climb and from there it’s 12% average for the next hour. My strategy was simply to hold a certain wattage with as little deviation as possible. I was aiming for “comfortable” at the start and “drooling mess” by the finish.

The first half hour happens beneath the treeline, this was also the portion I struggled with the most. Partly because of the heat but also partly because of the chaotic Over The Chest (™) number placement that prevents you from unzipping your jersey. It’s hot and it’s hard going and by 20 minutes in, you’re ready to pack it in, but guess what? You still have like two thirds of the climb to go. Things got considerably easier above the trees. The breeze helped and so did the scenery. I was passing people from the previous wave consistently now.

Around the final corner you hit “The Wall”. This alone makes this event worthwhile. The Wall is the car park for the Mount Washington observatory, it’s 100 meters of road at 25%. For the race, it’s covered in chalk and lined with spectators ringing cowbells. It’s the lift you need to get over the final kick and there isn't really anything else like it in amateur cycling.

I collapsed over the finish line in 65 minutes and was handed a medal and promptly swaddled in a blanket. I rejoined Matt and we waited for Dana together who came in shortly after.

This period after finishing is where Mount Washington Hillclimb comes into its own in my opinion. The single, steep, barrierless road up means that riders cannot ride down the mountain. Instead, each rider must organize their own ride down. This requires drivers to go up the mountain before the race. Then, once you finish, you must wait for the final rider to get up before everyone gets back into their cars and drives down together. It doesn’t matter if you’re Phil Gaimon or the guy who finished second-to-last, everyone is hanging out at the finish area. Which makes for a nice vibe in an egalitarian way.

Shout out to the race organizers who did a stellar job of managing what I’m sure must be a logistical nightmare of road closures/reopenings and made sure everything ran on time.

Once the race was finished and the hubbub had died down, we piled back into the car and began the long drive down the mountain. Legs throbbing, ears popping, brake pads melting.

That night, we ate pizza courtesy of friend, driver, New England legend and owner of Hilltown Hot Pies, Rafi Bildner, and I was left wondering, would I recommend this event to someone? The trip up is long, the climb is, too. But, I can say quite confidently, that it has been one of the highlights of my season. So, here’s my case: The Mt. Washington Auto Road Hillclimb brings you to the White Mountains, which are beautiful! (And maybe you haven’t been?) It challenges you in a way no race can, it beats you into submission with sheer, unyielding gradient and when you say, That was horrible, never again, it swaddles you in a warm blanket with 400 people on top of a mountain and makes you forget the pain.

I’ll end with this. During the race, I passed a guy who leaned over and confided in me, through deep breaths, “I’ve been coming back for ten years. You’d think I’d learn.” And honestly, I can’t think of a better endorsement than that.