I caught myself adjusting my cadence to a tune in my head. It was a nice song & made the hill not so arduous. No, I don't remember the song, but I'm sure it wasn't "99 bottles of beer on the wall"...
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I caught myself adjusting my cadence to a tune in my head. It was a nice song & made the hill not so arduous. No, I don't remember the song, but I'm sure it wasn't "99 bottles of beer on the wall"...
Interestingly enough disco has a great beat to climb by..... (I'd watched Mystery Men the day before a hill climb race and had the BeeGees stuck in my head :p) Then again, maybe I just climbed the hill fast so I could get that song out of my head.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmama
At least. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by smilingcat
We babbled some about that particular training ride here. Dachshund and Mel did really great on it. And it was another day in the park for MP. :)
I hope to do it next year, c'mon & join me! :)Quote:
me? I have no expression on my face when I climb. Really would love to go to the death ride. :(:(
Would love to do the ride. I found some of my old goodies from past death ride. 1992 I think it was. It's been a month or two since I dug'em up and put it away again.Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Not quite a 20 year anniverary ride for me. Wow... what happened?? I'm not sure if that was the first one or second...
Great article! I printed it out. I will definately look at my commute hill different. No longer something I have to "defeat".
OMG - that is hysterical! How did I miss the whole discourse on Dachsund's cheerfulness whilst climbing what I suspect was the Skaggs loop??
So glad I looked at this thread.
:D
It was just before the summit of the Gualala Wall, on the Terrible One/Monte Rio ride (err, yep, the Skaggs Loop)Quote:
Originally Posted by maillotpois
There are 3 hills on my ride, and I've got this game I've been playing by myself. I've never won it. Every time I go out riding I think "I'm gonna do it this time!"
I try my very, very hardest to not look up even once (like everybody keeps saying about only looking 10 feet ahead). I concentrate really hard on just looking at the wheel or a few feet in front of it and I can't do it. It's hilarious. It's such a huge struggle - one part of me saying "don't do it, don't do it, don't do it" and the other part saying "I HAVE to!" then my eyes are just jerked to the top of the hill.
Last time I got up 2 of the 3 without looking - so I'm getting closer.
I have a new trick learned while mountain biking, where I force myself to look at the top of the hill, at some point (like a mailbox, pole, or tree) and focus myself forward to that point. I chant "I am a hunting dog, I am an awesome dog" because the visual of a hunting dog pointing up the trail comes to mind. It is working wonders. Try it!
I'd have to chant "I am a hunting turtle. I am an awesome turtle."Quote:
Originally Posted by indigoiis
On the brighter side - my 3 hills seem to be getting flatter. I'm riding them faster, in higher gears. Yay!
Oh I definitely could out-turtle you. I get dumped on hills. I really take them slowly and use my grannies. But I don't stress about it any more. I just try to enjoy the ride! I still get jealous of people like my husband and my best friend, who both can plow up hills.
Oooh, that's great, and I may have to borrow that!!Quote:
I'd have to chant "I am a hunting turtle. I am an awesome turtle."
We climbed an awful hill last weekend. The last time we were out there, I walked up the last 1/4 mile of it. I had made the mistake of looking up and saw the grade getting much worse.Quote:
Originally Posted by staceysue
This time, I refused to look up while climbing that blasted hill. I had the GRADE % displaying on my Garmin. The first mile is 5-6%. Then it goes up to 8-9% for about a mile. Then it rises sharply to 11% and the last 1/4 mile is 14%. Finally, when I dropped below 3 mph, my Garmin put me out of my misery and went on Auto-Pause and stopped telling me how steep the grade was. My body was telling me that I was doing something I had never done before... but I really believe that not looking up saved me.
No, I was not smiling while climbing. I was yelling at the top of my lungs "This Hurts!!!" DH was in front of me dancing on the pedals. I hate when that happens.
That's dedication. I don't know if I could force myself to keep going. In fact - I'm sure I would have walked it. I'll remember your story next time I'm having a hard time with a hill.Quote:
Originally Posted by tctrek
My hills are so small you'd probably be laughing if you saw them.
don't you have a 3 speed beach cruiser? I'm sure that makes your hills much bigger!Quote:
Originally Posted by staceysue
Thanks for the article! The best (and weirdest) part was this quote:
'There is a French saying that roughly translates to: "Put a frog into boiling water and he will hop out and dash away. Put the frog into cool water and heat it slowly, and he will swim around happily until he is cooked."'
Along with this mental preparation, a few months ago, I was faced with this ridiculously steep hill and was just about to get off my bike to walk. A man sitting on a bench nearby yelled "You can do it!"
My immediate response? I yelled back, "No I can't!" ... then my body proceeded to beat my mind into submission and climb the hill. I think my body was remembering the little engine that could.
So now, when faced with a big climb, that memory serves as my storybook lesson / mini-pep-rally to get me moving.
ROFLOL - yes! Just a few more days until I have a real bike . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by Catriona
I'm so excited! and so excited we talked you out of that trek!Quote:
Originally Posted by staceysue
Me too. That would have been a BIG mistake!Quote:
Originally Posted by Catriona
I still haven't gone back to tell the bike store guy. Maybe I'll ride my road bike the 30 miles to town and pick up a couple of things, let him down easy. LOL
did you put a deposit down on the bike? You would have ended up upgrading quickly if you'd bought the trek.Quote:
Originally Posted by staceysue
Don't ride the 30 miles to town till you get a helmet! You can go a lot faster on a road bike and get yourself into trouble.
So, some of you know that my bike was stolen about 1 1/2 months ago. I did go to my parrent's house and got my old bike from HS and my hubby worked on it. (I still hate that bike-never liked it) Anyway I got on the bike cause I'm supposed to be doing the Bike MS ride in 11 days. :eek: (I am borrowing a road bike from a friend for that) I took the crapbike out yesterday and went up a little hill and was actually smiling all the way up and ended up laughing about half way up and even past the top! I took the advice of not letting people see the pain or fatigue and forced a smile and eventualy it wasn't forced!! Oh man, yes it was a very short ride and I'm still totally intimidated by the Bike MS but I will atleast give it my best and do it with a smile.:D