Even as I drew the map and wrote out the cue sheet, I wasn't sure this ride was reasonable.
But see, I only had two hours on my schedule. And with so little time, I wanted to stay close to home.
And close to home there are a handful of hills I've been eyeing.
Nobody said I needed to string them all together in one ride, though.
But whoa! I am so glad I did! 2,000 feet of climbing in 26 miles! Woo!
So I got a clue that maybe this ride was a little over the top when nobody responded to my email to join. Okay, fine, maybe they all had things to do (and I know Wendy, you would have been there if you could), but even my dear husband said, "Thanks a lot for designing a ride I can't go on!"
But Matthew, Danielle, and Liz all did decide to go with me, despite the threat of rain (what else is new? We now return to our regularly-scheduled spring weather, after yesterday's gorgeousness).
We started out mostly downhill for about the first eight miles...but the rest was pretty much climb after climb after climb.
Climb #1: 300 feet of elevation gain over 1.2 miles
Climb #2: 300 feet of elevation gain over 1 mile
Climb #3: 500 feet of elevation gain over 1.4 miles (avg. gradient 9.5)
Climb #4: 300 feet of elevation gain over 1.3 miles (but 130 of it in the last .3 - wow!)
The rest of the elevation gain was either scattered throughout the ride, or hills we always do (like the way back to my house - there's like more than 100 feet gained in the last couple of miles, but it feels gradual).
The thing is, crazy as this sounds - especially on the new bike with the regular double crankset that scares me - after each hill I felt stronger and better and more confident. I knew I was going to be able to ride them all. So this was super-rockin'!
I'm pretty sure my riding companions felt the same way. We knew this morning we were in for a big challenge. We knew there was a very real possibility we'd need to walk. And we all succeeded and felt amazing!
In the interest of recording the whole truth, I did pause slightly on climb #3 - I was only about 3/10 of a mile from the top, but I wasn't sure because the road was so twisty-turny - so I turned right onto a side street and rode on the flat road for a minute before heading back out to the hill and back up. I didn't get off my bike or anything, but I did take a slight break. It just helped to drop my heart rate and allow me to breathe again, then I felt stronger as I finished that hill.
But now that I know what I'm capable of....watch out, friends! I've got some more hills to conquer!
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3 comments:
Yay, I can't wait to do a hilly ride with you! You make it sound so fun! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Jill has me doing some very specific rides this month, but they are all hill rides - so maybe I can convince her that your routes are equally as torturous! :)
Wow! That's awesome. There's something about hills. You just HAVE to get to the top. They test your fitness like nothing else and also your mental toughness. Great ride!
Wish I could have gone, but you know how it is :-) Next time?
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