Originally Posted by
tekhna
The obvious answer is of course I am a pansy, and it's true. But beyond that, am I a total pansy for being rocked by hills a quarter of a mile long but with 13.5% gradients? There are several of these damn things around here, and it drives me crazy. I am totally out of shape because I've been studying abroad for the last year, and Cairo destroyed my lungs (just breathing there normally=a pack/day worth of damage) but I still feel so very weak when I drop down to the small ring on my compact...
I really need to get back in shape.
Yes, you are a pansy, but don't sweat it. 13.5% is no joke, even for a quarter mile. I have a similar hill right near me, and the first time I went up it, my garmin beeped at me, to let me know that I'd stopped. Yep, I was going so slow, it thought I'd stopped. If I had a compact, maybe it wouldn't have told me I stopped, but it still would have hurt.