Hello from a wannabe climber

[luv2climb]

Hi there I've been riding all my life, but only got semi-serious about it around '89-'90. That's when I discovered how much I LOVE climbing hills! I got in the best shape between '90-'93, but then I made the mistake of not riding hard or doing any climbing for about 15 years. As a result, the weight just piled on and I went from about 120 lbs up to a high of 214 last May. Luckily I rediscovered climbing at that time, and have dropped from 214 down to my current weight of 162. I still have 40 more pounds to go, but I have found that climbing is the absolute best way to lose weight. Not to mention the endorphin high it produces

My goal is to become a strong climber again like I was in the early '90s. For an idea of what my favorite kind of ride is like, here is some Garmin Connect data from a ride I did on Superbowl Sunday, plus a video from that ride. I like the sights AND sounds of a good sufferfest, so there is no music on this video. That means heavy breathing, so be forewarned:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67055054
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnX0o...layer_embedded

[Artista]

WANNABE climber!!!??? You're one tough Chica!

[WindingRoad]

That made my lungs burn just watching and listening.

[Catrin]

WANNABE climber!!!??? You're one tough Chica!

What Artista said - I wanna be like you when I grow up

[luv2climb]

LOL! Thanks! In case you're wondering what caused me to upload such a video in the first place, look no further than this thread I started on bikeforums.net. I was pretty outspoken on this subject because I love watching other people's climbing videos, and I would see one that looked like it would be pretty intense to watch. Then I would click on it and BAM! All music! To top it off, it was never even a song I liked in the first place Eventually the thread calmed down and all of us pretty much agreed to disagree, but not before a couple posters asked to see one of my climb videos. Since I didn't have one yet, I had to "put up or shut up" and make one. Well, I think it turned out pretty good, and it proved my point about what I like to see in a climbing vid

Later on a couple of the posters in that thread even made their own "sufferfest" videos similar to mine, with no music. Those were pretty good too.

Tomorrow I plan on climbing a new hill I haven't ridden yet. It's supposed to have grades up to 20% Should be a good video