Activity: road cycling
Location: Frederick, MD > Middletown, MD > Braddock Heights MD > Frederick, MD
Distance: 68.3 miles (very hilly)
Duration: 4:06
Weather: sunny, 88 degrees
Avg HR: 152 (max 192)
Type: aerobic

PPTC “OMG-WTF?” ride, and it lived up to its name. The route features four of the most god-awful climbs in the greater DC area: Hamburg, Harp Hill, Middlepoint (the “OMG”) and Coxey Brown (the “WTF?”). Hamburg is the longest and most gradual of the bunch, with an 8 percent grind most of the way up, with a wicked fast downhill after (I hit 50.4 mph on said downhill, per my bike computer). Coxey Brown is extremely steep (some sections close to 15-16 percent grade), and I maxed out my heart rate on said climb, thus resulting to tacking my way up the worst sections (and adding 0.2 mile to my ride distance in the process). It wasn’t my finest hour (okay, 15 minutes) on the bike, but I survived. And I promise to ride this one again – especially once I get my new bike.