Henninger Prep Ride

So it is just over 2 weeks till my first "A" race of the season. Things got off to a slow start with Cologne being canceled and all but I have kept to plan. My coach is relentless and has had me on some long rides recently - often over 3 hours too. But today is one of the few last longer rides with some MAX intensity intervals too so I decided it would be a good chance to recon the course.Race day is May 1st as it is every year. It is the local race in Frankfurt and is also on the Pro Tour calendar so it gets the big guys there too. I have signed up for the wimpy 64K hill tour which starts down near the river Main. There is an extension to the 64K route which if one gets there within the cutoff time can then ride through the city ahead of the pros and enjoy the crowds. Now I am not sure if I will make the cutoff.The weather is very April-like, chilly, windy, drizzly and gray. Wonderful atmosphere for a long training ride. I drove over near Frankfurt, parked the car and headed off to the course. Start and finish are at the lowest point around, about 90 meters of elevation whereas the highest point on the course is about 550m. I had a map with me as this is not an area I have ever ridden on before with many small back roads. From the start it begins going up, and continues to go up for about 30K (18 miles). Not always climbing but at times just a gentle grade. Occasionally there is a short steep section thrown in there too but it is pretty easy to ride when the gears are small enough.After reaching the highest point at Glasshütten and tearing down the hill afterwards at 70kmh I reached the bottom of the Ruppertsheiner Berg. This is only about 1000 meters of road climbing around 100 meters so an average of 10% grade but there are a few sections which are 12%. I had to stop twice to catch my breath. It was so hard. This is at about 45K into the ride so the legs already have plenty of climbs behind them and this is the true test. I failed today. Granted, I did not have my granny gears on the bike. One reason for the test ride of the course was to see what would be the best setup. My smallest gear was a 39×27 which can get me up many of the hills around here but not this many. I have a compact setup which I guess will be mounted soon in order to get used to its gearing. There I have then a 34 tooth front ring which will take it slow but should be enough to get over the hills.At the end there were 63K on the clock and 900 meters of climbing. That is about 3000 feet of vertical climbing, and that might be the most I had ridden in a long time. Here is a link to the web page for the race. It was a fun ride but I hope race day is better weather.http://www.henninger-rennen.de/bericht_120.htm