Newton’s Revenge

A Climb up the Mt. Washington Auto Road
7.6 Miles, 4,650’ of elevation gain, 12% average grade

July 10, 2010

What could be more enticing for us at ElliptiGO than an event that claims to be “The Toughest Hillclimb in the Word” and attracts professional cyclists like Tyler Hamilton and Tom Danielson each year?  We found out about Mt. Washington because we bought a book listing the 100 toughest cycling climbs in the country, and Mt. Washington was ranked #1.  Bryce and Bryan went out to New Hampshire to see whether ElliptiGO riders could compete alongside cyclists on such a challenging course.

What they faced when they got there was no joke.  Mt. Washington is a relentless climb with literally dozens of pitches that are steeper than 15% and many more that break 20%.  Unlike most other climbs, there are no breaks – it’s a steep incline from start to finish.  To make things even tougher, about halfway through the climb the pavement ends and the riders are forced to climb on a dirt road for about a mile before the pavement begins again.  There’s a reason that when you drive your car up to the top, they give you a bumper sticker that says “This car made it up the Mt. Washington Auto Road”.  In fact, there are some cars that they prohibit from even attempting the climb for safety reasons.

During the ride the ElliptiGO riders passed about a dozen cyclists who were walking their bikes up the mountain.  As you might expect, the cyclists and spectators were shocked that Bryan and Bryce not only completed the climb, but beat a number of cyclists.  Bryce established the elliptical biking record for climbing Mt. Washtington by reaching the top in 1:54:22 with Bryan finishing seven minutes after Bryce.  Once again, the ElliptiGO proved up to the challenge of taking on one of the toughest cycling events in the world.