Muse back!
May 25, 2008 / Sunday
The Insanity Is Now Complete
Yup, I did it. I can now check Mt. Hamilton off my list of things to ride this year. It took me forever to make it up that hill, but I did, and even had enough left for a victory lap around the observatory. Huzzah!
I decided last night that I was going to go for it today. Mostly, it was because I wanted to make some progress on the list. March was the half-century, April the metric century, and May? I didn't have anything to show for May yet. How about Hamilton, me? Hamilton sounds good, me. Tired hiking legs be damned!
Believe you me, my legs were not happy about the climb. They were tired, tired, tired. But whatever, I rode slowly and pushed on. I made sure to bring plenty of food this time, and ate almost all of it: 3 GUs, 3 mini Luna bars, and 2 bottles of diluted Gatorade. I kept track of the time and made myself eat every 20-30 minutes, whether I was hungry or not. That seemed to work pretty well; despite some painfully tired quads late in the climb, my body felt just fine.
Mt. Hamilton is such a long climb. I had a lot of time to play the same song over and over in my head (I don't really have a choice in the matter; it just happens) and think, "This hurts. Why am I doing this?" To prove that I can, of course. I don't just want to think I can, I want to know it. And now I do.
My quads really did hurt after I passed Grant Ranch, but fortunately I found that I could offload some of the work onto the glutes by changing my pedaling technique. A few miles into the hurt, I rounded a corner and caught my first glimpse of the observatory. I knew there was still a hefty amount of road ahead of me, but that sight just put a huge smile on my face. I'd come far enough to see my goal, and I wasn't going to turn back for anything. I was gonna make it! Yeah! *grin*
Finally, I made it, and I realized I should have brought myself a special snack as a mountaintop reward. Next time, I'll remember to.
The initial descent was cold, as expected, but I was pretty well prepared for it. I zipped on down to Alum Rock Road, where Aaron was waiting for me with a fizzy grapefruit soda and other tasty treats. I completed my celebration of the ride with a Krispy Kreme and some Ovaltine. Oh yeah, that's good stuff.
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Almost forgot: 36.8 total miles and 4800 feet of climbing. Gotta make sure I get the 4800 feet on here; it's a new record for me! :-D