So we did some bigger climbs (at least for us) this weekend. Nothing that any of you mt climbing types would even breathe hard on, but we all start somewhere. 18 (slow) miles with a few hundred feet of climbing along the way. Understanding how to better use the gears helped a lot, and to show how far I need to go, I spent a good bit of time on what were fairly short climbs in the granny gear and the 2nd cog on the back. The good news was I didn't have to do any walking, though I did have to stop on 3 different climbs, for about a minute each time.
Having my wife waiting at the top is good motivation to keep going, as is trying to mount up again with the bike shoes on the side of a hill. I have about 90 days, so with other workouts, days off, and vacation time, probably 35-40 rides to get ready for the hills of New Hampshire. We're going to go out to the course as soon as possible to see what kind of riding we need to be prepared to do.
man oh man, but the downhills... We had one that was long and winding ending at a stoplight... convinced me I need upgrade the brakepads.