Three times
Today's ride represented yet another milestone for me. It was a hill workout on the steepest hill in the area -- about a 2.5 km climb, one part of which is very steep and one part long and difficult. I'd done the hill before, twice, I think, but on my old bike which had a triple. Now I had to do it on my new bike -- no triple. Yikes!
The ride to the hill itself is also uphill. It's a 4 km climb, nowhere near as steep as the hill we'd be riding up and down, but long and annoying. And today it was hard. I had no idea how I'd get up that steep hill.
The workout called for 10 times up and down the hill, but the coach told me that that was for the varsity team and that I should do it as many times as I could. I told him I'd be happy with one time. He said that would be great. (Note: The coach was not with us today because his father passed away last week and he's still in mourning.)
We finally got there and up I went the first time. Ronit was right in front of me and at some point, I had to pass her, as I tend to take hills a bit faster than she does and if I slow down, I lose momentum and have trouble getting up. As I passed her, she said, "I can't do this." That's very atypical of her -- it's usually me complaining about how hard something is. So I quietly replied, "You can." Those two words resonated in my mind for the entire ride up. "You can. You can." When I thought I'd never make it up that steep section without my triple, I heard, "You can." And I did. And on that never ending difficult section, I heard, "You can." And I did. And before I knew it, I was at the top.
I turned around and rode back down, not at all certain that I wanted to repeat this experience. Ronit made it up and down, too, and when we got to the bottom, we decided to ride up one more time. Just once more. I had never done this hill twice in a row, so the idea of doing it twice was challenging.
Well, the second time up was actually easier than the first. That seems to be a theme with me these days -- I had a similar experience running hills on Monday. And when I got to the bottom, I began thinking about what would happen if I did it just one more time. Apparently, Ronit was thinking the same thing and next thing I knew, we were on our way up again.
The third time wasn't as pleasant, as we met some sheep being herded across the street (and the dogs that were helping to herd them). Fortunately, I only met them on the way down, but Ronit, who was behind me, met them on the way up, which really slowed her down. We both made it up and down, though, and it wasn't too terrible. At this point, we decided to leave the varsity team (and the "braver" adults -- all men) to do the rest of their hills and we took off for a 10 km ride to loosen up a bit. After that, we headed home.
I don't feel the least bit bad about not doing the hill 10 times. I had no intention of doing it more than once and I ended up going up and down three times -- a new record for me and with no triple. Actually, I actually found the hill easier on this bike than on the old bike, despite having fewer gears. Go figure. We did a total of just under 55 km -- a nice Saturday ride.
The ride to the hill itself is also uphill. It's a 4 km climb, nowhere near as steep as the hill we'd be riding up and down, but long and annoying. And today it was hard. I had no idea how I'd get up that steep hill.
The workout called for 10 times up and down the hill, but the coach told me that that was for the varsity team and that I should do it as many times as I could. I told him I'd be happy with one time. He said that would be great. (Note: The coach was not with us today because his father passed away last week and he's still in mourning.)
We finally got there and up I went the first time. Ronit was right in front of me and at some point, I had to pass her, as I tend to take hills a bit faster than she does and if I slow down, I lose momentum and have trouble getting up. As I passed her, she said, "I can't do this." That's very atypical of her -- it's usually me complaining about how hard something is. So I quietly replied, "You can." Those two words resonated in my mind for the entire ride up. "You can. You can." When I thought I'd never make it up that steep section without my triple, I heard, "You can." And I did. And on that never ending difficult section, I heard, "You can." And I did. And before I knew it, I was at the top.
I turned around and rode back down, not at all certain that I wanted to repeat this experience. Ronit made it up and down, too, and when we got to the bottom, we decided to ride up one more time. Just once more. I had never done this hill twice in a row, so the idea of doing it twice was challenging.
Well, the second time up was actually easier than the first. That seems to be a theme with me these days -- I had a similar experience running hills on Monday. And when I got to the bottom, I began thinking about what would happen if I did it just one more time. Apparently, Ronit was thinking the same thing and next thing I knew, we were on our way up again.
The third time wasn't as pleasant, as we met some sheep being herded across the street (and the dogs that were helping to herd them). Fortunately, I only met them on the way down, but Ronit, who was behind me, met them on the way up, which really slowed her down. We both made it up and down, though, and it wasn't too terrible. At this point, we decided to leave the varsity team (and the "braver" adults -- all men) to do the rest of their hills and we took off for a 10 km ride to loosen up a bit. After that, we headed home.
I don't feel the least bit bad about not doing the hill 10 times. I had no intention of doing it more than once and I ended up going up and down three times -- a new record for me and with no triple. Actually, I actually found the hill easier on this bike than on the old bike, despite having fewer gears. Go figure. We did a total of just under 55 km -- a nice Saturday ride.
posted by bari | 16:17
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