Originally Posted by patentcad

I daydream about a nice mellow 14% hill for the last .5 mile before my driveway. Sigh. That remains a wishful fantasy. The 15%+ Wall remains (two of them, 200yds, then about 100 yds). I don't call it Mt. Doom for nothing (these upgrades part of a mile long, 400 vertical foot slog). Try it with 109 miles in your legs. This is living proof that you can get used to just about anything.

When I first got back into cycling 2 years ago, there actually were days in the first two months where I'd call my lovely spouse for a sag wagon ride in our Volvo back to my driveway. I wasn't sure I could actually grind up those final upgrades carrying the 30 extra lbs I featured early on. Now I can manage it no matter how tired I am. It's never really that bad when you know you'll be in a hot shower within five minutes : ).

Again, this has no training value. But it makes an OK cycling anecdote.