Classic Challenge

If you've ever driven or walked up the 328-foot-long/100-meter Nicholson Avenue hill—Cat's Hill to locals—its 23 percent grade has certainly caught your attention.

Can you imagine yourself pedaling insanely fast on a bicycle up that hill, with your legs burning and heart pounding, then racing on a course that quickly takes you back to the steep monster—and doing all that 20 to 30 times in about an hour?

On May 14, hundreds of bicycle racers will take on that grueling challenge at the 38th annual Cat's Hill Classic in the neighborhood of Los Gatos. Winners will receive cash and all-important bragging rights. 

Traffic will be blocked around the Cat's Hill course—Tait-Bean-Massol-Nicholson/Ellenwood-Belmont-Bachman-Tait—which is a clockwise one-mile loop with a start/finish line at Tait and Nicholson avenues. 

As always, the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club (LGBRC) is promoting and hosting the internationally renowned all-day event. is the event's title sponsor, with about 30 local businesses also supporting the race. Proceeds will benefit the LGBRC's bicycle race-training programs for adults and children, and also the Los Gatos High School Marching Band.

"It's mandatory," explained Barry Gordon, president of the LGBRC, about the club holding the race for four decades. "Every cycling club in the United States has to put on a race." 

The LGBRC is one of the most successful bicycling clubs in the United States. It was founded in 1961 by Rome Olympic teammates Bob Tetzlaff and Jack Hartman, and since then members have represented the U.S. in several Olympics. Members have also won California, national and international competitions in road, track, cyclocross and mountain bike racing. The 111-member club has a 2008 USA Cycling Club of the Year Division 1 award among its other cycling club awards. 

Most of the club's members will be working at the race, not taking on the hill. Race categories will include laps for little kids, teenagers and beginner adults, but the main events for the cheering crowds will be the 60-minute women's race and the 75-minute men's race. 

Training for bicycle racing is never-ending. Two weeks ago, four LGBRC members rode up Cat's Hill a couple times for this article's photos after interrupting their regular Saturday training session. 

"We're already 56 miles into it," said Will von Kaenel, a doctor from Clovis, who grew up in Los Gatos and joined the club in 2007. 

The group had biked 56.3 miles in 3 hours and 11 minutes and didn't seem the worse for wear. 

Although the four men have varying levels of experience, they all make time for lots of regular training. 

"I do a practice race on Mondays after work around Lexington Reservoir," said Joseph Brody, a Category 1 racer who excels in cyclocross—a form of bicycle racing that consists of many short laps—and mountain bikes. "I also use my bike to commute, 20 miles in the morning and 20 miles in the afternoon." 

Mark Sandori trains 8-10 hours a week, while Tim Irvine just joined the club this year after riding bicycles since he was a small child. 

Garrett Lau, the club's newsletter editor and photographer, who is also in the photos, hasn't raced competitively in four years. However, like other club members, he continues to train to stay fit and to ride with the club on its Sunday social rides. 

Aldene Gordon, Barry's wife, is a Category 4 rider on road and track. She earned a bronze medal in time trials in 1988 at the Masters Nationals in Pensacola, FL after being encouraged by Barry, who was then a racer, to begin training for racing. 

"He would have to circle on top of every hill, waiting for me," Aldene said, laughing. "Then we tried out a tandem." 

Today, they take long rides on South Bay back roads, work at the club's events and lead the Sunday rides.

"Cycling is a very good form of exercise," Barry said. "No skeletal shock. It's much better than running and you get to see things around you." 

For Cat's Hill Classic race and registration information, visit http://www.catshill.org/.

About this column: Each week Susan Wiedmann will write about nature in Los Gatos and how people relate to it in different ways. Susan is a longtime freelance writer and photographer with a passion for capturing wildlife through her camera's lens. Please leave any comments about this article at the bottom of this page. You can contact Susan about possible topics at Susan@UpCloseWithMotherNature.com or at www.UpCloseWithMotherNature.com.

Correction: This story has been revised. An earlier version incorrectly identified a beneficiary of proceeds from the May 14 Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club Cat's Hill Classic in the neighborhood of Los Gatos. The club will be donating money to the Los Gatos High School Marching Band. Everybody makes mistakes ... even us! If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give Local Editor Sheila Sanchez a ring at 408-391-8725 or shoot her an e-mail at sheila.sanchez@patch.com.

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