I'm going on a 37 mile ride on Monday and about 10 miles total of it is going to be in the mountains (I know it's a piece of cake to the people who pull off double-centuries without a sweat, but bear with me
). One stretch is 4.4 miles and another is 5.5 miles, and I'm a little scared as to whether I'll be able to climb for that long though.
I've got a 22 lb bike, and will be wearing a close fitting, thin sweater with normal shorts (no jerseys or tights to speak of). I'm most interested in what parts of the climb get the most challenging and how to conserve my energy and resources, and what to do when I'm in distress.