I may be starting to like hills...
Ok, this is kinda scary. I mean, why on earth would someone like me, who seems to enjoy complaining more than anything else, like hills???
We do our major hill workouts on this horrible, annoying hill. What makes it annoying? The fact that you can't get anywhere by going up it -- all you can do is turn around and go back down. Well, that and the fact that the road isn't in great shape and it's very narrow and twisting and going back down the hill is worse than going up it, especially when there are people riding in both directions. It's about 2 or 2.5 km long and it's actually several hills. It starts with a very steep incline. It's fairly short, but every single time I do it, just before the end I start thinking, "There's no way I'm going to make it up this thing today" -- and then I'm at the top of the incline, which is the hardest part of the hill (in my opinion). Then there are several more semi-steep hills with minor inclines in between. One of them is a bit longer and quite tiring. Well, ok, the whole thing is tiring. And then, you get to the top and you have to make this hairpin turn to turn around and go back down. Every time I turn around at the top, I'm sure I'm going off the side of the road and I have to remind myself to look where I want to go, not where I don't want to go.
Today's ride started out in some very thick fog. Actually, it didn't (because if had been that foggy while we were still in town, we never would have left). We turned out onto the main road and I could see some very low clouds up ahead, but I didn't realize how low they were until I was riding through them. As always, I had my sunglasses on and it took me a while to realize that the main reason I couldn't see anything at all was because my sunglasses had completely fogged up. The ride to the hill is also uphill (or at least the first 5 km or so is uphill), so I didn't really feel like stopping to take off my sunglasses and I'm not terribly talented when it comes to actually finding my pocket and putting something in it as I'm riding, so I just pushed my sunglasses to the edge of my nose and looked over them. That's when I saw the water dripping off my helmet (and it's also around when I realized that my gloves were soaking wet). So we stopped at a gas station after turning off the main road in order to decide what we were going to do. Obviously, going up and down a dangerous hill in zero visibility wasn't a very good idea.
We took off in two groups and by the time we got to the base of the hill, the fog had dissipated and we were able to start. But then I realized how many people (including some not very careful and not very old kids) were going up and down the hill and I panicked. I am really scared of someone riding right into me as I'm going up and they're coming down. So everyone took off and I just waited. Finally, I decided I had no choice and up I went.
The first time was hard, or at least it was hard at the beginning. I had to remind myself to JFRide. Then I whizzed back down, got off my bike, ran a kilometer and got back on my bike for round two. The second time was much easier. Back down again (much more slowly this time -- a couple of big tractors came up the hill as I was riding down and there was barely enough room for them to pass), another 1 km run and back up the hill for round 3. The third time was a little harder -- my legs were starting to feel the climb. But I got to the top (passing one of my teammates rather quickly and then surprising myself after the turnaround when I realized how much faster than him I'd climbed the hill -- at that point he was WAY behind me and he's not normally slower than I am). Turned around, rode back down, ran a kilometer and called it a day (well, apart from the ride home). I could have done it a fourth time (though that would have meant that the rest of the team would have had to wait for me), but I wanted to finish the workout feeling good and with the feeling that I could have done a little more, rather than finishing exhausted with the feeling that I'd reached my limit. I'd only done that hill three times in a row once before and that was a year and a half ago (and I didn't run that day, so it was a little easier).
And the crazy part is that when I got home, the main thing going through my head was that it had been a fun ride. Huh??? Obviously, I am losing my mind!
We do our major hill workouts on this horrible, annoying hill. What makes it annoying? The fact that you can't get anywhere by going up it -- all you can do is turn around and go back down. Well, that and the fact that the road isn't in great shape and it's very narrow and twisting and going back down the hill is worse than going up it, especially when there are people riding in both directions. It's about 2 or 2.5 km long and it's actually several hills. It starts with a very steep incline. It's fairly short, but every single time I do it, just before the end I start thinking, "There's no way I'm going to make it up this thing today" -- and then I'm at the top of the incline, which is the hardest part of the hill (in my opinion). Then there are several more semi-steep hills with minor inclines in between. One of them is a bit longer and quite tiring. Well, ok, the whole thing is tiring. And then, you get to the top and you have to make this hairpin turn to turn around and go back down. Every time I turn around at the top, I'm sure I'm going off the side of the road and I have to remind myself to look where I want to go, not where I don't want to go.
Today's ride started out in some very thick fog. Actually, it didn't (because if had been that foggy while we were still in town, we never would have left). We turned out onto the main road and I could see some very low clouds up ahead, but I didn't realize how low they were until I was riding through them. As always, I had my sunglasses on and it took me a while to realize that the main reason I couldn't see anything at all was because my sunglasses had completely fogged up. The ride to the hill is also uphill (or at least the first 5 km or so is uphill), so I didn't really feel like stopping to take off my sunglasses and I'm not terribly talented when it comes to actually finding my pocket and putting something in it as I'm riding, so I just pushed my sunglasses to the edge of my nose and looked over them. That's when I saw the water dripping off my helmet (and it's also around when I realized that my gloves were soaking wet). So we stopped at a gas station after turning off the main road in order to decide what we were going to do. Obviously, going up and down a dangerous hill in zero visibility wasn't a very good idea.
We took off in two groups and by the time we got to the base of the hill, the fog had dissipated and we were able to start. But then I realized how many people (including some not very careful and not very old kids) were going up and down the hill and I panicked. I am really scared of someone riding right into me as I'm going up and they're coming down. So everyone took off and I just waited. Finally, I decided I had no choice and up I went.
The first time was hard, or at least it was hard at the beginning. I had to remind myself to JFRide. Then I whizzed back down, got off my bike, ran a kilometer and got back on my bike for round two. The second time was much easier. Back down again (much more slowly this time -- a couple of big tractors came up the hill as I was riding down and there was barely enough room for them to pass), another 1 km run and back up the hill for round 3. The third time was a little harder -- my legs were starting to feel the climb. But I got to the top (passing one of my teammates rather quickly and then surprising myself after the turnaround when I realized how much faster than him I'd climbed the hill -- at that point he was WAY behind me and he's not normally slower than I am). Turned around, rode back down, ran a kilometer and called it a day (well, apart from the ride home). I could have done it a fourth time (though that would have meant that the rest of the team would have had to wait for me), but I wanted to finish the workout feeling good and with the feeling that I could have done a little more, rather than finishing exhausted with the feeling that I'd reached my limit. I'd only done that hill three times in a row once before and that was a year and a half ago (and I didn't run that day, so it was a little easier).
And the crazy part is that when I got home, the main thing going through my head was that it had been a fun ride. Huh??? Obviously, I am losing my mind!
posted by bari | 22:21
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