Learn to love the hills.....Grasshopper.....
These words have been stuck in my mind for a long time. A very fast mountain biking friend has been telling me this for over a year. She told me again here a few weeks ago....and it has stuck. Because I am so heavy I struggle in the hills. I am getting faster, but I still feel the pain from the inclines. Tonight I decided to stretch out my route a little at Fort Custer. I headed down the red like normal, but I turned and went onto the Blue loop where the race course was. This route added a few miles and a couple of nice climbs......like gotta stand up and mash the pedals climbs...at least for me. Eventually the Blue meets back up with the Red and I looked for all of the hills I could find. The new switchback, the reroute up to Granny's Garden, all of Granny's Garden, Amusement Park and Crazy Beaver. I was feeling the pain at this point, but I decided to head out again for another loop. This time I wanted more hills. This meant that I was going to ride the same Red to Blue to Red loop....but then turn off at the Green and include the climbs out there. The last climb going up from the Boat launch about killed me......but I survived.....and I kept my average speed up to a respectable level.
Overall....a 26.21 ride. 10.57 average speed. Hopefully this ride pushes my weight under 250......and boy do I have a funny idea about how to leave 250 behind. More on that later.
Side note....I passed 900 miles today. I didn't pass 900 miles until some time in September last year.
And Jody, keep telling me to love the hills.....I appreciate it!
One day you will be climbing the most hellish hill and you will say to yourself "This is what I was made for!" and you will mean it.
ReplyDeleteBTW it never gets less painful. The hills you can climb just get bigger and the accomplishment more satisfying.