The Wall

Since we started cycling here, we've heard many different groups of cyclists refer to "The Wall".  It's a one mile climb, ending at a 12% grade.  We didn't know those statistics, we just knew it was a little bit of brutal. :-)

We went on a training ride yesterday and our goal was to go about 40 miles.  We ended up at 38, and although we probably could have circled around and did a loop of the neighborhood, we were pretty much SPENT by the end of the ride.  Doing P90X leg workouts AND riding is taking it's toll.  Oh ya, and we squeezed in some treadmill running too.  The legs and butts are screaming at us.  Screaming legs and butts are not necessarily the best way to START a training ride.  But we both carried on and ended up doing just over 1,700 ft of climbing.  Not bad for the beginning of our training.  Believe me, our muscles felt EVERY foot of that!

Probably the worst part about climbing The Wall is that when you get to the top and feel elation of having completed it, you then need to start an additional brutal climb a few minutes later.  On Saturday, we were blissfully unaware of what was to come, as our training partners only casually mentioned that we still had a little climb ahead of us.  Little.  BAH!  It was brutal.  In fairness though, our legs were already toast, and worst of all-we had an UNBELIEVABLE head wind (strong wind directly into our face for those non riders).  It nearly had us standing still.  To add insult to injury, once we got to the top and turned the corner, our 'reward' (aka: descent) was ruined too.  The wind was now coming from the west, and it was so strong that it actually blew Den and I completely off the road TWICE!  That gives you an indication of the strength.  There was no shoulder for us to ride on down the hill, and it was a busy day for traffic with only a single lane going our way.  It was all I could do to hold on to my bike-it was swaying and I was literally riding it on an angle, tilted with the handle bars left into the wind to try to stay on the road.

I'm not a scaredy cat in life.  I jump in to most things feet first.  I've never been scared on a bike before-even when careening down hills at 70 kph.  In fact, you may even (usually) hear a 'woo hoo' from me.  Not yesterday.  It was the first time in my biking career (albeit, my 'career' is short) where I was completely, ridiculously scared.  I continued to go fast (36mph/58kph), but only because I had to get off that damn road before I was flattened by a car.  I *may* have had a few choice words for my riding companions when I finished the descent and got off that road.  It wasn't their fault-no one could have predicted those winds (well actually, we probably should have predicted it since we just finished taking it in the teeth for a few miles), but with the lack of a shoulder, busy traffic day, etc. it was just the perfect storm.  NEVER AGAIN!

The rest of the ride was wonderful.  We enjoyed the most amazing sunshine, completely mild, dry temperatures, and it's always great to get out there and learn some new routes.  We always enjoy our company too!


With that under our belts, we headed to the mountain again Sunday and continued to burn out our quad muscles.  Another gorgeous sunshine day, and boarding with the kiddos.  Perfect.  I'm looking forward to next weekend, as we're heading to Steamboat Springs for the first time for a few days.  Yippee!

Flying the R2S colours in Colorado! (unfortunately, not for long as it was too hot and had to come off)

Elation!  The wall is behind me (I had no idea what lurked ahead.....)