Learning About Hills

Today I thought that I had planned a challenging training ride. I rode from my house (well the top of my driveway) up Marttala Road, to Tennessee Road, and turned around at Pleasant Valley Road. Tennessee Road has some big "roller coaster" hills in it and I thought riding them twice, once each way, would take some time. I was wrong.

It's fun when you realize that you've gotten better! I only had to gear down to my lowest gear on two of the hills, that's a big improvement. I should have realized that when I got to what I thought was the "flat" part of Tennessee Road and was cruising at 23 mph, that it wasn't really flat at all. It took me 16 minutes to get to Pleasant Valley Road, it took me 24 minutes to get back to the top of my driveway. That flat part was uphill when I turned around!

I really didn't think that I would need to be looking for more mileage to ride. I was trying to wait a few days before I went over Hale Hill again and thought that this would be a good alternative. I surprised myself!

I am learning about hills as I ride. If you look at a hill you begin to see that hills have a flow to them. They don't go straight up at the steepest pitch of the hill. They seem to climb steep for a bit, then they let off (still going up hill, but not as steep) and then they climb again. I am beginning to be able to pick out the spots that seem to not be as steep and I tell myself that I can make it to that spot and my pedaling won't be as hard. It's a bit of a rest (though I don't stop) before the pitch becomes steeper again. My timing still needs work as I gear down to low to soon at times. That's why I had to use my lowest gear the second time, I went to far down. I underestimated my ability to ride up the hill!

I will be ready come August for the big ride. I am excited ... Bike MS and the 1000 mile ride here I come!