The Icicle Metric is over. I didn't finish it. I completed 38 miles and simply could not make it up one more hill. When the SAG wagon came to get me, he said I stopped at the perfect spot, because "the next few miles had the major hills." WHAT?? The hills I tackled were not the "major" ones??? Holy &^%$&!
I took a ride later in the day to see what I had missed along the course and he was right - if I had gone just around the corner from where I stopped, what awaited me was a GIANT hill. I never would have made it.
I realized something, which made stopping easier - I wasn't having fun anymore. I was dreading the next turn, thinking it would bring a hill. I had to get off the bike and walk up the last few. I hate walking anyway, and walking in bike shoes is certainly no picnic. I would get a nice downhill, and all I was thinking about was whether I had enough speed to carry me up the majority of the next hill. I wasn't enjoying the ride anymore. So I stopped.
One thing they tell you at Weight Watchers, over and over again, is to find an exercise you enjoy, or else you won't stick with it. I was so thrilled to find biking, because I truly enjoy it - I feel like a little kid riding my bike. On Saturday, I started out with that feeling, but by the end, I was just a tired, overweight, miserable heap of sweaty, sore mess. So I stopped.
On Sunday, I got back on my bike - I took my familiar route into Old New Castle, and aside from being very sore, and having a little trouble getting up hills I never even noticed being there before, I was having fun again! I went about 10.5 miles on Sunday - I wanted to go further, but my body just wouldn't have it - and I had fun!
I took another look at the elevation map for Tahoe. Aside from the two big climbs, it's not a very hilly ride. The hills that are there undulate, giving breathing space in between (the hills on Saturday just kept coming - one after another after another, with no relief). So yea, while the two climbs may be challenging, I'm looking forward to enjoying the ride. Because really - isn't that what it's all about?
And I did ride 38 miles on Saturday - pretty impressive considering.....
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