Well, here I was all confident and cocky about my first attempt at hills. Although it certainly kicked my ass last Sunday, I did it, and was proud. Imagine my surprise when I take on Griffith Park with the guidance of a veteran rider and can barely make it up the first one! Wow! Do I have a way to go. I've got to tell you, I am not a fan of reality checks! And boy, did I get one!
The interesting part was that it wasn't my legs and muscles that were killing me, it was my lungs and my poor little heart felt like it was going to burst right out of my chest. I thought I was in pretty decent shape. Not an athlete, but healthy. I do my 12 and 30 mile rides without feeling the need to pull over and throw up, or pass out when I get home. Turns out, those hills are just a little more difficult ;)
I'm really glad I've started early and have the time to train. Here's hoping I can make the hills a regular part of my week, in order to build up the necessary abilities to survive the ride in June!
Tomorrow is the World AIDS Day Ride and I'm looking forward to it. This will be my first ride with such a large number of participants. It should be a good experience for me to prepare for riding with 2,500 people :) I'm slowly building my group size to get accustomed to riding with so many others. Plus, it's wonderful to meet more people who are cyclists, supporting AIDS fundraising or both or neither!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment