THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING »

Get the VeloNews Email Newsletter FREE

  Learn More | Archive
Home » Top Stories » Road »

Wicked weather snuffs Mt. Washington Hillclimb

By John Stifler
Published: Aug. 18, 2007

Horizontal sleet, rime ice, 87-mph gusts of wind and freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of this year’s Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb on Saturday.

Six hundred cyclists had come from all over New England and from as far away as the West Coast for the chance to race the 7.6 miles to Mt. Washington’s summit in what is called, all too aptly, “the world’s toughest hillclimb.” Now they’ll wait another year to battle the Auto Road’s 12 percent average grade.

“We have agonized over this decision,” said Howie Wemyss, the general manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, noting that some of the volunteers staffing the finish area at the 6288-foot summit were being blown to the ground by the winds.

This is the second Mt. Washington bike race canceled by weather in 2007. On July 7 the Auto Road had scheduled a similar race, Newton’s Revenge, which was pre-empted by a combination of high winds, zero visibility, and zero traction on the unpaved portions of the Auto Road.

The Hillclimb cancellation meant no one got to watch what had promised to be an epic contest between cycling legend Ned Overend and young pro Anthony Colby. Overend, the 52-year-old former world mountain bike champion, who still regularly beats most riders half his age, was the runner-up in the Hillclimb last year behind four-time Mt. Washington winner Tyler Hamilton. Colby, 28, was the runnerup here a year earlier, also beaten only by Hamilton.

“Anthony Colby and me – it would have been a battle,” said Overend. In 2005, when Overend also rode in the Hillclimb, he finished just nine seconds behind Colby after an intense tactical contest.

Having flown to New Hampshire from his home in Durango, Colorado, Overend shrugged at the disappointment, then smiled, signed an autograph for a fan, and said he would use the rest of the weekend to visit some cycling dealers in the area.

“I’ll make use of this trip somehow,” he said. “It’s a long way to come.”