I found these old photos tucked away from -I don't know- a year or two ago.

I often talk about that last climb up to my house. There's the "easy" way, the "hard" way and the "harder" way. Truth be told, none of them are really all that hard anymore but all things are relative.

This is the easy way, looking down the east side from the top. The approach to this is 1/3 mile of 3-4%. Nice little rollers but that last little hump (closest to you) kind catches me by surprise every time.

http://home.comcast.net/~96omi/007.jpg

And this is hard and harder. The sign says "Keep Right". Come up that way and it's just straight up. If I come up the left way, I get to roll up a short 10 or 11% before it dips down (what you see in the picture) and then it's straight up from there. Behind me, it actually keeps going up for a few more yards -though at a much reduced slope- before it levels off right in front of my house. Not always a fun thing to face after a long ride... But, hey, what choice do I have? I have to get back home and I'm sure not calling for the "sag wagon" At the point where I'm standing, I used to be in my lowest gear (at one time a 30t in the back) and my HR would hit 175bpm or so. Not anymore. Yesterday, in a taller gear and coming up the harder way, I just barely scraped 160. One deep breath and I was back down to 158.

http://home.comcast.net/~96omi/006.jpg

That doesn't look like fun from any angle.

Practice makes perfection. Congratulations on your increased fitness. Its wonderful to be able to see/feel these sort of quantum jumps.

I have to say that the title of this thread made me think of something totally different from what SKT (if I may abbreviate) had in mind.

More like where I find my conditioning at the present time.

This year, to date, my mileage is about what I was doing in two weeks last fall... due to weather, schedules... and life in general. My avg speed is down about 2 mph and I don't have the legs I had late last year.. and I'm carrying 5 to 7 more pounds than last year too.

So for me, the climb back up refers to regaining fitness levels. And I'm far behind where I thought I'd be by this time of year.

I need to climb those hills that SKT showed in the OP. A lot.

That doesn't look like fun from any angle.

Have to agree but for some of us- Hills are just part of our riding. They have to be for the location in which we live. I can get in a fairly flat ride over the marshes for around 50 miles- But I rarely do it. I am not a speed merchant so rarely get above 20mph- even if I want to. But hills- that is where the challenge is. SKT has proved it. He lives in a hilly area and no matter which direction he takes his rides- It involves gravity working against him.

SKT has set an example to the rest of us. He has set himself a goal of using the bike to get fit. He has done it and I should think his doctor is wondering how he has done it. A lot of it is down to the hills where he lives, so if you want to lose that bit of weight- want to get fit and enjoy doing it----Go find some hills and turn them into slopes---With practice of course.