Originally Posted by
Rick@OCRR
Actually, if I may have the opposite voice, I love climbing! Here is the ride we did Sat.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/263874964
And that one was lots of fun! I even made it a bikeforums ride for the locals. Out here we have lots of long climbs; they can last for a couple of hours sometimes, so you get to be good at climbing when you live out here. In 2012 I rode a tad over 8,000 miles with 540,000 feet of climbing.
The most I've climbed in one day was on the Mt. Shasta double-metric century, and that was 16,500 feet, so lots of fun on that one. I am not particularly light at 160 lbs. and 5'9" and I know lots of heavier riders who do just fine on climbs.
The more you climb, the better you'll like it!
Rick / OCRR
I'm with you, Rick.
I honestly don't think I'd ride a bike at all if it weren't for hills. It would be ... I dunno ... boring. It's a lot easier to chat people up when you're going uphill and you can see and smell more. And when you get to the top, you get a great view, a feeling of accomplishment and have a great downhill in front of you.
I think the key is to just stop fretting about how long it takes you to get up the hill. Get the appropriate gearing and get at it. Go at a speed that for you, is brisk, but not utterly exhausting.
PS: Nice to see you Saturday, Big John!