Last year I started cycling again. A friend of mine who came to visit bought a bike for me (I paid him to pick it up) and came out and we did a few rides together to start. I will say that Its pretty hilly where I live. My flattest 20 mile ride is 1200 feet of climbing and it hits 12% on a section of one of the climbs.

My first couple times out I couldn't make the hill. I literally had to stop and get off the bike and lay down because I thought I was going to pass out. Grateful that my friend waited for me, phone at the ready to call 911.

The winter came and the bike went away. FFwd to this summer and my goal was to get the bike back out and get in the top 10 on Strava on this climb (Its remote where I live and there are like 40 people total who have made this climb so not like Im up against semi-pros here) I also wanted to loose 15 pounds and try to keep it off through the winter.

I will say that when I first started getting over the hill, my thoughts were the fastest people on this bike had to be on ebikes. There was no way someone could take this hill 6-7 minutes faster. But by the end of this summer I made the top 3 on each side of the climb. I was within about a minute or so of the KOM.

It was hard work. But I feel better now than I have in 10 years. I also bought a bike this year for the winter (gravel) and am going to try to keep riding through the winter season.

To top it all off my wife has started riding with me and wants to ride Seattle to Portland next year (200 miles in 2 days).

Thanks for posting this. Cycling is something Ive always been into since I was younger and its great being halfway through life and still being able to enjoy it as much as I did 30 years ago.

-Sean