That which humiliates us makes us stronger?
I have a long day on campus on Thursdays, so today I scheduled myself a morning ride before I headed in. I felt kind of slow, maybe because it was cold and I was bundled up. This guy passed me at one point but I managed to keep pretty close to him until my turnaround point. About 4 miles after the turnaround he caught me again. He was apparently using me as a rabbit, which is a good thing. It means I’m not slow. We talked briefly at the stoplight where he caught me and for about a mile after that. He suggested a couple morning groups to ride with on the weekend and, as I got to my turn to head home he asked if I had a few seconds to try the hill that goes in the other direction.
I have run up this hill once before I knew better. It is shorter than my monster hill, but quite a bit steeper at the top. He said he tries to fit it in twice in each of his rides. I kept up with him abotu 2/3rds of the way. This wasn’t crazy climbing; just seated easy-gear please-get-to-the-top riding. I started to slow about 50 yards from the top and about 25 I had to stop. My legs were shaking, I was panting. It was humiliating. I have not been unable to make something like that in a very long time. The guy said he had the same problem his first 6 or 7 times up that hill.
So, now I have a new hill in my route. It beat me up and now I’m going to have to loop it in there twice every ride so I can show it who’s boss.
Here’s a map from my house, down my monster hill, up the big hill, and back. Usually I head left just after passing mile 1 and going under the beltway. Now, I will go up the hill, come down, and then head into the park. When I’m coming out of the park, I’ll go back up, down, and return home. Note the elevation profile:
While humiliating, I guess there are two good things out of this ride. Something that will strengthen me up and I now know of two groups to ride with.
Stupid hill.