MTB News: The six-time American cyclocross champion and RED BULL athlete Tim Johnson switched from narrow studded to wide spiked tires and was the first cyclist ever to climb the 1900 meter high Mount Washington in the US state of New Hampshire.
At first glance, the pure route data sounds quite crisp, but not really scary: If you want to reach the summit of Mount Washington via the autoroad, you have to cover a distance of 12,2 meters over a distance of 1900 kilometers and with an average gradient of 11,6 .XNUMX percent fight.
However, what makes the climb to the summit spectacular is the general conditions under which it was undertaken: Until 1996, Mount Washington held the record for the world's highest wind speed ever measured domestically at over 371 km/h. So it's no wonder that when Tim Johnson registered his ride, the responsible authorities pointed out the risk that he could simply be blown off the road. In addition, there was a largely icy and snow-covered access road and temperatures of around -20° Celsius, which – due to the headwind of up to 72 km/h – must have felt significantly cooler.
Above all, the track conditions and the temperatures demanded everything from Johnson, who, according to his own statement, had been tested in the cold: In order for the total of 596 carbide spikes (248 per tire) to cling to the ice and thus generate the grip necessary for progress, it was necessary to Lower tire pressure to below 0,3 bar and accept a correspondingly higher rolling resistance on the few pieces of ice-free tar. However, the spikes repeatedly reached their limits on the smooth ice, which is why a heavier gear often had to be used to prevent the rear tire from spinning. Because of the low temperatures, Johnson had to be careful not to start sweating too much too early and to keep the breaks as short as possible so as not to get cold.
After a ride of one hour and 45 minutes, all the troubles were finally forgotten: Tim Johnson had reached the summit and thus his goal of being the first cyclist to conquer Mount Washington in winter. The bike he used was a relatively close-to-production one Fat Caad from CANNONDALE, which he tailored to his personal preferences by swapping handlebars, stem, saddle and seat post. In addition, Johnson used a wheel set with carbon rims, on which he fitted the studded tires mentioned above dillinger 5 the winter bike specialists from 45NRTH raised. The extra for that Fat caad new developed Lefty model Olaf helped dampen the unnerving vibrations of the “washboards” sculpted into the ice by snow groomer and snowmobile tracks.
You can find more impressions of Tim Johnson's historic premiere drive that are worth seeing in the video linked below.
Have fun watching!