Originally Posted by
nkfrench
Part of it is confidence, knowing that you can climb a certain hill. Part of it is toughing it out, keeping the cranks turning even when you get an opportunity to coast. And part of it is knowing when you've had enough and its time to ease back a notch and live to ride again.
When I look back, I am amazed at how hard those first rides were and that I even kept at it. Keep the faith, one day you too can take pride in your accomplishments.
I can agree with these statements. I am finding that a lot of hill climbing is as much mental endurance as physical conditioning. I did a two part 60 mile ride today with between 1500-2000 ft of elevation gain on each leg. The return trip got really tough after the 50 mile point and I still had to cross the Pine Mountains. The temp was in the low 90's with the humidity feeling like it matched the temp. At some point I quit worrying about my average speed, my cadence, or the ability to stand and climb a hill. It all became about making it home no matter how slow I had to go to climb the hill. There were some places where I was in granny gear for my bike (40CR x 34) and all I could think about was getting one more revolution out of the cranks. Finally I made it. With an average cadence of about 72 and an average speed just over 12mph. My longest ride prior to this was a 23 mile a week ago and I am quite satisfied by the fact that I did 60 miles on a bike in a day.
We won't even talk about about popping the chain, leg cramps, or hitting a rain shower while on the ride back? Or even making a second bottle holder out of a plastic shopping bag so I could carry the extra quart of Gatorade (G2 low calorie cause I'm still a Clyde).