The Climb That Never Wanted to End

Well, I survived the first day of biking. I have to say that the sweet carbon fiber frame bike added a little taste of Heaven to my Hell. I really do love that bike. And the thrill of riding it lasted for just about the entire 2.25 hour climb. It made it just ever so slightly less grueling. I was very proud of my performance getting up that never-ending climb. I guess I have to credit P90X for getting me in somewhat of good shape. I felt "loaded and ready to go" as Tony Horton would say. As a matter of fact I heard his voice in my head as I dug down and pedaled hard. When we got to the top, the thrill of the scenery wasn't quite so great, as we were there the day before. So we just concentrated on filling our tummies and resting our wobbly legs.


Next it was time to turn around and ride back. How hard could that be since we biked nearly constantly uphill? Of course it's never that easy. The last 5 or 6 miles was 'rolling' but for some reason it felt like it was all uphill going back. We had 10 mph head winds and my stomach decided to completely cramp up after lunch. It never fails. When am I going to learn that I can't eat while biking? I have to admit I had a tough time making it to the intersection where all the downhill started. It was like an oasis . . . seeing the road sign up ahead. Once we made that turn my stomach relaxed a little because the hard pedaling was over. We spent the next 20+ miles cruising downhill. What a thrill ride that was. The only tricky part was avoiding all the cow poop scattered about the road. Seems there are lots and lots of cows that just roam free everywhere. A million acres of land and they have to poop on the road. Thank God no pooping cows where on the road as we came flying down.

Today was the first time we tried out the helmet cam video camera. Sorry that I can't upload any footage just yet, but I will soon after getting home. It's pretty neat.

Nothing felt better than getting back to the hotel for the biker party. There was free happy hour food and drinks, even a band playing. How glorious it was to sit outside in the sunshine, drink a couple beers, eat some munchies, listen to the music, and meet and talk to new friends. We had a ball.

It might not have been a great idea to jump in a hotub after the beers. Oh my goodness I thought I would pass out. Took everything I got to drag myself out of the tub, into the room to shower and to dinner. I think it's finally hitting me now. I'm exhausted. And I think that means it's time to sign off and hit the sack.