Finally climbed my nemesis- Mt. Scott

I must preface this by saying that I am NOT a climber at all. I've been trying, but when all you have are flats and small rollers- climbing is difficult to improve upon. We drove an hour and a half to the Wichita Mountains yesterday (and onto the Wildlife Refuge) and set our mind to climb Mt. Scott (it's my nemesis because I'm the only one of my tri buddies who has yet to climb this "regularly").
It's not huge (by comparison to many mountains out there), and it can hardly be call "Mt.", but it's HUGE to me. It's 1077 feet of climbing in 2.75 miles.

We started out going straight up. I didn't have any trouble with my legs- just had a hard time catching my breath. Had to stop twice for a minute or two just to cram my lungs back down my throat. Took me 34 min. in the tiniest granny gear I had (I have a triple up front and 9 speed in the back). It was hard, but oh so fun! :D
Descending scared the HOLY H*LL out of me. :eek: The first part of the descent was VERY steep and very twisty. I got majorly freaked out and had to get off my bike and walk it for about .2 of a mile until it leveled out a little (embarrasing to admit- but I've never been so scared in my whole life). I rode the brakes a lot, but made it down safely. I love speed, but only when it's on a fairly straight road, and only when I don't have the option of plummeting off the side to my death. ;)
Afterward, we went for a 3 hour ride after on some pretty hilly terrain. Had a blast. On the wildlife refuge there are wild buffalo, longhorn deer, and prairie dogs a plenty. Here are the pics I took (they are with my camera-phone so they're not the best quality):
#1 is me at the top (yes, I wore my dorky neon yellow vest so cars could see me well)
#2 is DH at the top (he was much faster on the climb and the descent- and he didn't have to walk his bike at all going down :p )
#3 is the view from the top
Thanks for reading.

Great job! Great pics! I know what you mean about scary downhills...there are a couple of routes I avoid just because of some steep downhill hairpin turns. If my brakes were to fail...well, I won't go there!

I think you should call this a nemesis mountain though...looks more like a mountain than a hill to me! And, since you conquered it, it can't be your nemesis anymore, right? :p

Yeah, that's a climb, no doubt about it. Good going! And, thanks for the pics. Really fun to see.

You should be really proud of yourself and the new bit of strength you've discovered.

I did that climb when I was stationed at Fort Sill. Even though I grew up riding in hilly places, that is a long, hard climb. The grade doesn't relent much so you don't have a chance to recover and there isn't a tree worthy of the name on the whole accursed thing. And that last little bit. Sheesh.

Sorry. I'm gushing. I love it when people post things like this. People pushing themselves and achieving something they didn't think they could do makes me happy.

Congrats, Tri Girl, what a victory! :D It only gets easier from here, now you have a good "mental map" of the route and your body will get smarter about it. Not to say the downhill won't always scare the poo out of you, though. I'm not a big fan of fast twisty downhills either.

Way to go Tri Girl!!

I bet that felt great. Good on ya.

Congratulations, Tri Girl!
You just climbed Nemisis Hill!
Now what are you gonna do?

Shush, zen. ;)

Take that, nemesis hill!!! :cool:

That's a tough climb. Now you can do hill repeats on it. :D :D :D :D

V.

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Originally Posted by DirtDiva

Shush, zen. ;)

Take that, nemesis hill!!! :cool:

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She's 'sposed to say "I'm going to Disney World!"

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Originally Posted by zencentury

She's 'sposed to say "I'm going to Disney World!"

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Awww... heck yeah! :D
Thanks for the kind words everyone. :)
Actually, now that I know I won't die on a climb, we're planning a 40 mile hilly ride (a 20 mile out and back with 5,700 ft of total elevation gain) in the fall. Now I know I can do bigger and braver things. It's the Talimena Scenic Drive in Eastern OK. http://www.talimenascenicdrive.com/
Should be funzies.... :eek:

A friend just rode up Mt. Evans in Colorado (the highest paved road in N. America at 14,264 ft.) and that seems like a goal to have for one day many years in the future.

Way to go!!

That looks like amazing country, I must admit that is unexpected. And :rolleyes: on the DH being a mountain goat, I have one of those too. Straight decents I love to see if I can run out of gears but windy and I am scared of burning my brakes!

Mt. Evans, well I have been up it in a car and I just don't know if I would ever have the lungs and legs for doing it by bike!!

Congrats! That sounds like a good climb. It's a great feeling when you accomplish something that's been hanging over your head like that. :)

As for Mt. Evans . . . I have some friends who did the running race up it this year, 14 miles. :eek: There was much discussion as to which would be more painful, to run it or ride it. My thinking was that at least if you're running (walking, crawling . . .) you don't have to maintain a minimum speed to stay vertical. Most people agreed. It's been many years since I've driven up there, I don't remember the grades. But I've been hiking up that high enough to know that above 12,000 ft. you really start to notice the thin air. Oh, and you'd have to dodge all the big horn sheep on the descent!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tri Girl

I must preface this by saying that I am NOT a climber at all. I've been trying, but when all you have are flats and small rollers- climbing is difficult to improve upon. We drove an hour and a half to the Wichita Mountains yesterday (and onto the Wildlife Refuge) and set our mind to climb Mt. Scott (it's my nemesis because I'm the only one of my tri buddies who has yet to climb this "regularly").
It's not huge (by comparison to many mountains out there), and it can hardly be call "Mt.", but it's HUGE to me. It's 1077 feet of climbing in 2.75 miles.

We started out going straight up. I didn't have any trouble with my legs- just had a hard time catching my breath. Had to stop twice for a minute or two just to cram my lungs back down my throat. Took me 34 min. in the tiniest granny gear I had (I have a triple up front and 9 speed in the back). It was hard, but oh so fun! :D
Descending scared the HOLY H*LL out of me. :eek: The first part of the descent was VERY steep and very twisty. I got majorly freaked out and had to get off my bike and walk it for about .2 of a mile until it leveled out a little (embarrasing to admit- but I've never been so scared in my whole life). I rode the brakes a lot, but made it down safely. I love speed, but only when it's on a fairly straight road, and only when I don't have the option of plummeting off the side to my death. ;)
Afterward, we went for a 3 hour ride after on some pretty hilly terrain. Had a blast. On the wildlife refuge there are wild buffalo, longhorn deer, and prairie dogs a plenty. Here are the pics I took (they are with my camera-phone so they're not the best quality):
#1 is me at the top (yes, I wore my dorky neon yellow vest so cars could see me well)
#2 is DH at the top (he was much faster on the climb and the descent- and he didn't have to walk his bike at all going down :p )
#3 is the view from the top
Thanks for reading.

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Really fterrific experience.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tri Girl

I must preface this by saying that I am NOT a climber at all. I've been trying, but when all you have are flats and small rollers- climbing is difficult to improve upon. We drove an hour and a half to the Wichita Mountains yesterday (and onto the Wildlife Refuge) and set our mind to climb Mt. Scott (it's my nemesis because I'm the only one of my tri buddies who has yet to climb this "regularly").
It's not huge (by comparison to many mountains out there), and it can hardly be call "Mt.", but it's HUGE to me. It's 1077 feet of climbing in 2.75 miles.

We started out going straight up. I didn't have any trouble with my legs- just had a hard time catching my breath. Had to stop twice for a minute or two just to cram my lungs back down my throat. Took me 34 min. in the tiniest granny gear I had (I have a triple up front and 9 speed in the back). It was hard, but oh so fun! :D
Descending scared the HOLY H*LL out of me. :eek: The first part of the descent was VERY steep and very twisty. I got majorly freaked out and had to get off my bike and walk it for about .2 of a mile until it leveled out a little (embarrasing to admit- but I've never been so scared in my whole life). I rode the brakes a lot, but made it down safely. I love speed, but only when it's on a fairly straight road, and only when I don't have the option of plummeting off the side to my death. ;)
Afterward, we went for a 3 hour ride after on some pretty hilly terrain. Had a blast. On the wildlife refuge there are wild buffalo, longhorn deer, and prairie dogs a plenty. Here are the pics I took (they are with my camera-phone so they're not the best quality):
#1 is me at the top (yes, I wore my dorky neon yellow vest so cars could see me well)
#2 is DH at the top (he was much faster on the climb and the descent- and he didn't have to walk his bike at all going down :p )
#3 is the view from the top
Thanks for reading.

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Really terrific experience.

Inspirational post, Tri Girl.
Hills are not my forte either and I never come close to the top ten in any local club races with hills. I intend for this to change... one day...

With the breathing - I don't know if this will help, but when climbing I focus on my breathing and make it fit the rhythm of my legs - panting fast just wears me out, and its easy to do if I don't think about my breathing. But steady deep-ish breathing makes it easier (if the words easier and hill-climbing go in one sentence :cool: )

So... your post is one that makes me feel things are possible. That is one heck of a hill and one stunning view to reward yourself with.

I love the descents... sometimes I don't do them too fast if the corners are tight, but I do love to rush downhills...

Maybe when you get back from Disneyland we could make a pact - you ride up the hills, and I'll ride down them :p