Hi,

I've been able to do a 55 miler most every weekend for the last couple of months after a 2 year layoff. The route has a fair amount of variety, hills, flats, curves & little traffic. There are several places I can start the route at (different parking lots), the one I've been favoring lately lets me get water re-fills about 3/4 of the way through the ride - about the time I'm out of water.

The problem with this starting point is that within the first mile & a half I have a double digit downhill and a corresponding uphill. My legs seem to be screaming on that first big uphill, plus shortly thereafter is another long slow uphill.

My question is - should I give my legs a longer warmup tme before hitting the sizeable hill? How much warmup should one do before tackling the big hills? As it is, there aren't many long flat stretches to warm up on (near parking), but I could park in a less ideal place and start with a few miles of more gentle terrain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Bob