Queen of the Mountain

Ok, maybe that is a bit much, but I climbed a hill I have been scared of since I started cycling. Hubby took me on my long ride today and I had a 2 1/2 hour ride with 3 climbs on my schedule. He chose Hicks Rd. which is one of the tougher (albeit, shorter) climbs in the area. He said I should try to go to the cattle guard Picture cattle guard for you non-cowboy types. He ALWAYS overestimates my abilities, so I thought I would NOT be able to get to the cattle guard, but I DID! Go me.

We rode 31 miles and did 2 real climbs, and one lesser climb. Hubby was impressed and said I am definitely getting stronger. This is no small thing. He doesn't exactly play fast and loose with compliments. Picture Elevation chart for today's ride


Tomorrow is a recovery long run. I think I will run 7-8 miles at a different bike trail (ooh! new pictures!) My legs are feeling pretty good, although they were trashed most of the week after the 20 miler. I think I need to look at using a recovery drink after long runs like that. I am going to try one (Ultragen) after the 23 miler next weekend. I am also going to try electrolyte tablets (Salt Stick) on the recommendation of my coach (she also recommeded the recovery drink she uses). The heat last week really got to me and I need to be ready for it to be warm in San Diego. I will give a review of these after I try them.

Wow, that was hard

We started out in Aptos at elevation of 0 ft and climbed to the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains at about 2000 ft. There was a total uphill of 3,645 ft and believe me I felt every foot of it. I rode for a total of 42.3 miles. Although about 2 of those miles weren't recorded on my Garmin, because I turned it on and then promptly hit the 'stop' button on accident. Here is the elevation chart:




My tri training group divides the long workouts by distance and difficulty: the 'pink' group is the easiest/shortest, 'blue' group mid-range, and 'black' hardest/longest. My hubby and coach talked me into being 'blue' today. A fact that I did not for ONE SECOND forget as I was climbing those hills today.

Anyhoo, I was pretty nervous about the 'blue' thing because of the big climb in that ride. I knew it was going to be long. I am just glad that I didn't know how long or how hard because I am sure I would have wimped out and done the 'pink' ride which only went about 20 miles and only had one climb. We had ... um,... I have no idea how many. There was the one, 11 mile climb, that I remember quite distinctly, but after that, it was more like "Are you fucking kidding me? How can we be going back up again?" And I am not sure how many times I said that.

I do wish I had brought my camera because it WAS a beautiful ride, but I was more concerned with not being left in the dust, and, well, not falling off my bike, so obviously no pictures today.

The downhill was almost (Note, I said almost) as hard as the uphill, because you were FLYING had to watch for potholes, crazy, road rage drivers, and it was FREEZING! My hands and feet have never been so cold and my shoulders and hands were hurting because of gripping the handle bars and brakes for dear life.

I had one asthma issue, but it resolved relatively quickly with my inhaler. The moist air of the redwood forest got me.

Mean girls: I talked to a few of the women today and rode briefly with some. I wasn't the slowest, but I was close. It seems like they are warming up to me, maybe by the end of this damn thing I will stop referring to them as the 'mean girls', but I am not quite ready to make that jump just yet.

All in all, I am very proud of myself for doing it. It is my longest and hardest ride to date.