Climbing The Actual Texter Mountain

The mountain I climbed yesterday was definitely Texter Mountain. I don't know what that other one is called. But this one was definitely Texter Mountain, which I confirmed from various signs, as well as from another rider who stopped to chat while I was taking this photo:



The above camera-phone shot was taken at the top of Texter Mountain looking west/southwest.

The route was Sportsman Rd for about 4 miles of climbing. For most of the time, the climb was in the 5% gradient range, but at the top where Sportsman meets Texter Mountain Rd, the grade spikes up into the 18-20% range. I did pretty well and discovered some things about climbing, mainly the rhythm of it. My breathing a pedalling after a mile or so synchronized into an aerobic pattern and when I dropped out of the rhythm, it was difficult to get it back.

I've never endeavored to climb for this distance, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I turned onto Texter Mountain Rd (where I snapped the above photo) then onto South Mountain Rd for some of the most breathtaking riding I've ever experience. It was a super-fast series of descents through the ridgeline of this particular range of hills and mountains. Then more steep climbing over what I think is South Mountain before the long descent into Newmanstown. The below Google Map shows Sportsman in blue and South Mountain in red.



Total miles: 30. Outside temp: 50-degrees. Miles of climbing: approximately 8. Route: 422-Sportsman-Texter Mountain-South Mountain-Rt. 419-Womelsdorf-422. Path profile: