That point...
At some point, you realize you're starting to do really well. And for that I do have Strava to thank. We had some decent weather (i.e. temps > 50F) in a row, which was going to end with possible snow and rain for the weekend, so I wanted to get in a ride before the weekend. I decided to go east bound down the W&OD until I got to 35 minutes in, and turn around. This just happened to correspond with me getting to Phoenix Bikes down on 4 Mile Run. I got off the W&OD and onto 4 Mile Run trail, which is a bit hillier than W&OD, expecing to take on the last hill I had to walk up. This was the point I'm talking about. Greg Lemond is quoted as saying "It doesn't get easier, you just get faster." I got up to the foot of the segment known as "Glencarlyn Park Sidepath" and hit it with what I had at that point. Stood up initially, then sat back down, as the last time I didn't have enough weight on my rear wheel and it started slipping. Now, that time was on my Trek 7300, which in the granny gear was a 30 front to 32 tooth rear sproket. This time is on a Cannondale Synapse with a 34 front and 27 rear, so even the gearing wasn't equivalent...What had changed was me. I rode up the path, which is about 230 meters long (739 feet) and a average gradient of 9.4% (21 meters/67 feeet of ascent), was pretty winded by the end of the climb, but I survived without having to get off and walk this time. When I got home, and uploaded my ride, it told me I had the 7th fastest climb up the sidepath, out of the 39 people who had ridden in 74 times. What told me that I did pretty well is that I was ahead of other people that I knew through Bike Arlington or the PPTC. I then realized it was time to look to schedule my first Mt Weather ride, as to deflate my ego.Leave a comment
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