Our big Hangzhou reporter Wang Feifan
This Sunday, the 2024 Zhejiang West Tianlu KOM Hill Climb will reignite the flames of war. It made many riders who failed to win the lottery itching.
57.3 kilometers of continuous corners, a cumulative climb of 1,800 meters, and the overall climbing difficulty reached the highest HC level...... It's exciting to think about.
Last Sunday, on the eve of the race, I took my road bike and made a special trip to the "4+2" (4 wheels of the car to the starting point, and 2 wheels of the bicycle to the finish line) to Lin'an Changhua, the starting point of the race, and experienced the whole stage of cycling.
Let yourself fly in the "outdoor paradise" of western Zhejiang
With a total length of 139 kilometers, there are 17 natural villages and 7 scenic spots along the way, connecting the world-class ecological and cultural tourism corridors of Hangzhou and Huangzhou.
The Zhejiang West Tianlu KOM Hill Climb Race selects 57.3 kilometers of the essence of the route, and sets up cycling stations at different sections of the road at an altitude of 166 meters, 345 meters, 436 meters, 922 meters and 1364 meters above sea level, and the supporting facilities are becoming more and more perfect.
The starting point of 8300 outdoor sports center, located in the center of Changhua, a "thousand-year-old town", I simply ate a bowl of authentic Changhua knife-cut noodles at the roadside noodle restaurant, bought a bottle of water, a few wafers, and then put on my bags and set off alone.
Choosing a person to "fly solo" is mainly freedom.
Compared with the "great god" who is quite professionally equipped, I belong to the "three nos" amateur riding (no locks, no size watch, no goggles), and simply rely on board shoes to step on the mountain, and the speed cannot be exerted to the extreme. And when riding alone, if you want to be fast, slow, and take pictures to record the scenery along the way, you stop, and there are no fetters.
Starting from the 8300 Outdoor Sports Center, along the 330 National Highway all the way to the west, the first 10 kilometers belong to the warm-up, there are few ups and downs along the way, there are beautiful new villages, small bridges and flowing water, and golden ripples in the wind and wheat waves......
In my ears is the song of "Let's Go Now": "Away from the noise of the city...... In search of pure sky ......", the cadence under your feet becomes lighter and brisker, and you let yourself go in the advanced acceleration.
As you go deeper into the mountains, the scenery along the way is gradually replaced by continuous green hills, swaying bamboo forests and gurgling streams, and suddenly riding on National Highway 330 has an illusion of time and space riding National Highway 318.
Almost all senior riders have a dream of "riding Tibet", especially taking the 318 National Highway and riding the 2142-kilometer-long Sichuan-Tibet line, which carries too many people's "poetry and distance".
However, riding the "Sichuan-Tibet Heavenly Road" not only takes 1 month, but also needs to be careful of falling rocks, overcoming altitude sickness, avoiding frostbite, and not caring about ultraviolet rays to turn the 28-year-old "little fresh meat" into a 58-year-old "Guyu meat......
And the "Yangtze River Delta" at the door of the "Zhejiang West Tianlu" is much gentler, with a total length of 139 kilometers, the highest altitude is only 1500 meters, there is no high anti and no anxiety about the elderly, and it can be ridden in one or two days on weekends, and it will not affect the work and study next Monday. All the way to the green water and green mountains, it is simply a multiple enjoyment of sight, hearing, smell and soul.
In terms of mileage, riding 15.4 "Zhejiang West Tianlu" is equivalent to riding the entire Sichuan-Tibet line. For riders who have the "ultimate cycling dream", it is also an excellent practice ground before riding the "Sichuan-Tibet Heavenly Road".
Re-examine yourself in the "turning mountain" of the Grand Canyon in western Zhejiang
But for me, the 57.3-kilometer KOM climb is not a practice, but the most intense challenge at the moment.
I've done a lot of 150km cycling events before, but almost all of them are flat and riding. In the face of the physical consumption is N times that of the flat road (the greater the slope, the greater the consumption), the farthest will ride through Yuhangjing Mountain, Lin'an City Ridge, Deqing Mogan Mountain, Anji Tianhuangping, a single climb is not more than 30 kilometers.
Therefore, in the face of this 57.3-kilometer "Zhejiang West Tianlu" KOM climbing stage with the highest HC intensity, I have no bottom in my heart.
In fact, after 10 kilometers of warm-up, I gradually rode into the climbing section, with mountains on one side and streams on the other, and occasionally through tunnels, "pedaling" up parallel to the mountain and stream, and from a bird's-eye view, people and bicycles seem particularly small.
At first, I was still very interested, after all, I have climbed the slope of West Lake Longjing hundreds of times over the years, and I am familiar with it.
So I rode in Spirited Away, watched the scenery all the way, saw the green mountains outside the mountains in the Grand Canyon, and watched the peaks and loops in front of the road. When you see the signs of famous scenic spots and villages such as the Grand Canyon of Western Zhejiang, Tianchi of Western Zhejiang, and Xiangjian Village, you will yearn for it; When you see the joyful place names such as Elephant Trunk Bridge and Yuyue Village, you can't help but smile.
After riding the Haohan Slope, with the continuous deepening of the climb and the continuous increase in altitude, the physical energy consumption is also increasing. When I got to a long slope more than 30 kilometers from the starting point, my legs began to become heavy, my breathing became rapid, and I even stood up and pedaled, "rocking" all the way to speed over the slope.
As a result, one slope was circumvented, and then another slope was ...... The tense breath began to loosen, and he lowered his head and put his hands on the handlebars and slowly stepped on them, and the handlebars began to shake weakly from side to side.
"Who am I?" "Where am I?" What am I going to do? Sweat kept dripping from my forehead and falling on the handlebars, and at that moment, I thought of Mitsui Shou in "Slam Dunk", the "flame man" who was physically exhausted in the Tianwang Mountain competition and still didn't give up.
"I'm a flame man", "I'm in Lin'an", "I want to ride on the West Zhejiang Tianlu", riding alone, two people in the sun, can only talk to themselves. After eliminating the hesitation, my eyes began to become resolute again, and I switched the music in my ear to Pu Shu's "Ordinary Road", adjusted my breathing, controlled my cadence, and pushed up with all my strength......
After the most shaken heart of a period of climbing, finally rode to the mouth of the Dafeng tunnel, turned left and took the Hualang line to continue to pedal forward, after a while, in front of the green mountains and blue pools, high gorges out of Pinghu, pure white "net red bridge" Huaguangtan Bridge is located in the green water and green mountains and canyons.
On one side of the bridge is the Wanghu Station at an altitude of 436 meters, more than 20 riders are resting and taking pictures, the turquoise lake water is matched with blue sky and white clouds, white bridges, white railings, white tables and chairs, white swings...... It is so beautiful that it looks like a small "Santorini" on the Tianlu in western Zhejiang, so I can't help but stop to take pictures and take a break.
Surpass yourself at the Taizijian Station at an altitude of 1,364 meters
This group of riders has just come down from the top of the mountain, and then they are basically downhill and downhill, and there is no pressure anymore.
"It's almost half past three in the afternoon, you go to the top of the mountain at this point, and the front is more than 20 kilometers full HC climbing, I'm afraid it's dark when you come down, so don't go up." A rider saw me wearing short-sleeved shorts and reminded me that it was cold on the mountain and that I wouldn't freeze when I went downhill in the evening.
As soon as these words came out, the coffee I had just ordered instantly became unfragrant, and there was a sense of urgency for the Chinese men's football team to play 80 minutes behind in the game - "There is not much time left for the Chinese team!" ”
So I drank all the iced coffee, stepped on the bicycle, and continued to march to the top of the "Zhejiang West Tianlu".
In the last 20 kilometers, there are almost no ups and downs, and it is a full climb. The altitude will also climb from 436 meters all the way to 1364 meters, which is the most "abusive" stage in the mouth of the riders who participated in the last Zhejiang West Tianlu KOM Hill Climb.
Maybe it's because I've just taken a nap and had iced coffee, but I rode surprisingly smoothly at first. While maintaining a good cadence, I also enjoyed the picture of switching between mountains, streams, springs, terraces, and villages all the way, and watched the vast water waves in the canyon, leisurely.
Almost non-stop riding to the 922-meter-high Zhuan Mountain Station, seeing the word "Zhuan Mountain", the first thing that came to mind was the movie "Zhuan Shan", a film about the younger brother in order to fulfill his brother's last wish, riding a mountain bike from Lijiang alone to Lhasa through the "Heavenly Road", it and Peng Yuyan starred in the movie "Breaking the Wind", which became the "first love" of many bicycle lovers.
I bought a piece of chocolate at Zhuanshan Station and chewed it in three or five bites, as the ultimate post station supply before the last 10 kilometers or so.
Continuing forward, I passed by Guoshi Village, Sister Mei's Alpine Ecological Farm, and Canyon Source Village, the "First Village of Taizi Jianxia...... The altitude has also climbed to more than 1,000 meters, the sky is clear and tranquil on the high mountain, and only the purest spring water "dingdong" in the ears, insects and birds chirping, the breeze gusting, and the sound of the woods are whispering.
The continuous hairpin bend "Hero Slope" of the sprint is just around the corner.
There is about 7.5 kilometers of climbing from "Taizijianxia First Village" to Taizijian Station, which is equivalent to 3 times the distance of Longjing Climb (about 2.5 kilometers on the north slope), and this intensity is not difficult for me at ordinary times, but at this time, after completing the more than 50 kilometers of the KOM Hill Climb Race in West Zhejiang, my legs are already weak.
About 5 kilometers from the finish line, his legs are constantly swaying, and the handlebars are shaking;
About 3 kilometers from the finish line, the right calf had begun to be messy, and I was frantically testing on the edge of cramps, so I could only get out of the car, drink the last two sips of water, and eat the last wafer to replenish energy;
2 kilometers away from the finish line, the muscles of the right leg are still twitching from time to time, and they are almost paralyzed, so they decisively adopt the auxiliary strategy of "stepping on the left leg and taking the right leg homeopathically";
1 km away from the finish line, hope is just around the corner, shake up your spirits and start the final sprint!
Amazingly, the last 1 km of the sprint, the first 600 meters uphill and the last 400 meters downhill, allowed me to cross the "finish line" with the speed and attitude of a sprinter, and arrived at the Taizijian Station with dignity amid the praise of tourists at the top of the mountain.
It's better to come early than to come at a good time. The sun sets, the originally darkening sky suddenly appears the beautiful scenery of "Buddha's light shines", standing on the Taizijian Mountain at a glance of the mountains, in the distance, villages, farmhouses lie quietly in the canyon, the light brings a dream-like, people sincerely sigh "the sunset is infinitely good".
Brother Mei, a photographer from Linping, was taking pictures of his wife on the viewing platform, and when he came by car, he saw that I was riding a bicycle, and first admired and praised me, and then offered to help me take a few photos.
△ Linping photo friend Mei Yongfeng / photo
I used the last stubbornness, facing the sunset, raising the road car high, and instantly freezing the "small achievement" of the first Zhejiang West Tianlu KOM climbing victory.
In the Taizijian Station on the side, the "hero list" of the 2023 Zhejiang West Tianlu KOM Hill Climb Race is still standing on the top of the mountain, with the fastest men's group being 1 hour 35 minutes 06 seconds, which is Taizhou star Hu Tiantian, and the women's champion He Chong's time is only 1 hour and 44 minutes, which is breathtaking.
△ Linping photo friend Mei Yongfeng / photo
Naturally, I couldn't compare the results with the cycling gods, but it was the first time I successfully challenged a climb of such intensity, and I was already surpassing and enjoying it.
Descend the mountain at a gallop and feel the charm of Lin'an's "outdoor paradise" on the 114.6-kilometer round-trip race section.
When I returned to the Changhua 8300 Outdoor Sports Center, it was already dark. But the road in my heart is bright.
Editor in charge: Wang Feifan
Review: Chen Yi Zhou Tao