Originally Posted by
Lamplight
My ride today was...humbling. I haven't been riding very much for a couple of years now, mostly just running errands around town and even then I usually walk. The ride I posted pictures from the other was only about 14 miles, but with no real hills, so it was pretty easy, even with my being out of shape. Today I made a loop that's only 12 miles, but it starts out with a horrible, wretched hill. I've never made it all the way up this hill without walking, and today was no different. I've never been a good climber anyway, and after the hill I had to stop and rest while fighting the urge to vomit. Now I've had a tickle in my throat ever since. After the initial rest, there's another long but not especially steep climb and then a fantastic decent. The long climb didn't bother me much, but by that point my legs were cooked. All in all, I'm glad I did it. My Univega performed nicely, even if I didn't. I really think if it hadn't been for that initial hill I wouldn't have had any trouble. No pictures from today, unfortunately, but here's the lake where I stopped to rest:
And on the way to the lake:
That is a route that I'd love to ride. That lake is incredibly beautiful!
I know what you mean about a ride humbling you, that's for sure. There's a hill that I would like to take on one of my rides and on a couple of my bikes I can make it (
the Peugeot and Cannondale), but with
the Norman I've been doing most of my road rides on lately, the gearing is a lot taller and I am unable to go the entire distance up the hill. I've taken to riding up as far as I can make it and then turning around, bombing down the grade and heading on the ride. It works well enough and I can tell my legs are slowly getting stronger. I figure that I'll eventually ride the entire hill, if I keep pecking away at it. Hopefully, you'll be in a condtion to ride up that hill before you know it!
