What have I done???

[Kano]

I'm looking forward to your ride story too! I looked at the web site, and it looks like a beautiful ride, and I've got to admit, I'm a little bit envious!

There's been so much good advice, and I want to echo what Evil Twin said about stopping to recover on hills.

Like she said, when I'm about to start up a hill, I pick a spot and when I get to it, I stop and breathe a while, have some water, and maybe a bit of my trail mix. (I've been experimenting with a sort of "steady stream" of trail mix lately, and it's made a difference in my energy levels on longer rides.) When I'm ready, I pick a new spot and start on up to it -- and I actually get a couple of gears back after the break, so I have room to shift down again. This helps my confidence, knowing I have somewhere I can go with the gears. If I "run out of gears" I might stop to recover a bit earlier than planned, but I've learned to allow myself those pauses. I think that was the hardest part of hill climbing: giving myself permission to take a hill in stages, and that stopping isn't failure just because someone else can do the whole hill at once. I'm still working on convincing myself that it's okay to be slow as mud, as long as I get there eventually!

If it will help you, I'll share my permission with you!

Karen in Boise

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I've been riding for 2 months.
My method of dealing with hills is this:
I make sure to downshift in advance as much as possible.
I just peddle up the steep hills in Granny Gear as long as I can. Then if I am exhausted I just get off and walk the rest of the way. I stop and rest at the top.
The fact that you are going to FINISH this 35 mile event (my current distance record is 23 miles, by the way) is reason to be proud. Whether you walk up a few hills is irrelevant right now. Just remember, 95 percent of everybody else is sitting on their _ss doing absolutely NOTHING.
As for spandex- I think you look great! If you FEEL good, you LOOK good. Period.
You GO, girl!!!