Climbing Club - April Goals

[kelownagirl]

Whoo hoo! One of my climbing goals for this summer was to get to the top of Knox Mountain without stopping. It's 3.5 km (2.2 miles), with 250 m climbing (800') at an average of 7% grade although some parts of closer to 10% and some are less. There is a really hard part at about the 1st km mark and I always have to stop and rest at the lookout. Yesterday I managed all the way up without stopping although I admit I did roll slowly through the flat lookout area before starting the next section. I really did not expect to be able to do until mid-summer. I guess now I will time myself going up and see if I can increase my speed as my next goal. I am going to try to find time to do the climb once a week if I can.

My other happy acheivement was going up all the way up clipped in. I had a fall going uphill early on when I went clipless and have been deathly afraid of climbing at slow speeds. I forced myself to stay in this time round and survived. I think that mental challenge was harder than the climbing itself.

[Trekhawk]

Whoo hoo! One of my climbing goals for this summer was to get to the top of Knox Mountain without stopping. It's 3.5 km (2.2 miles), with 250 m climbing (800') at an average of 7% grade although some parts of closer to 10% and some are less. There is a really hard part at about the 1st km mark and I always have to stop and rest at the lookout. Yesterday I managed all the way up without stopping although I admit I did roll slowly through the flat lookout area before starting the next section. I really did not expect to be able to do until mid-summer. I guess now I will time myself going up and see if I can increase my speed as my next goal. I am going to try to find time to do the climb once a week if I can.

My other happy acheivement was going up all the way up clipped in. I had a fall going uphill early on when I went clipless and have been deathly afraid of climbing at slow speeds. I forced myself to stay in this time round and survived. I think that mental challenge was harder than the climbing itself.

Well done!!!

[Starfish]

Got in 2400 feet over the weekend. And, we now return to our regularly scheduled program of cold rain. (Ah well, did get some good muscle tension work in on the spin bike in the gym today.)

[maillotpois]

Sorry about the cold rain, Starfish. We got that over the weekend, and it was no fun! This weekend is looking better for us. (Hope I didn't jinx it right there. )

[Starfish]

Sorry about the cold rain, Starfish. We got that over the weekend, and it was no fun! This weekend is looking better for us. (Hope I didn't jinx it right there. )

(Small hijack...but I will keep it brief!) I was just telling Veronica that this is the time of year when I REALLY have to try to keep my whining mouth shut. We really don't get our sunshine until the 2nd-3rd week of July, but we get tiny teasers all spring. It is hard for me to accept that I have 2-3 more months of cold and rain. That is why I will be moving in the next year or so!

[Starfish]

How is everyone doing on their April goals? The first couple weeks, I really didn't ride much and I haven't come anywhere near my goal number. However, I got some great encouragement from Veronica, and the last week or 2 I have been back on the bike.

Today, got in a 21.5 mile ride with 3110' of climbing in! It wasn't exactly a very long "long weekend ride", but I'm pretty happy. We had SUNSHINE. I am SO grateful. And, I met a couple cyclists coming down the mountain who said that despite snow banked high up on both sides, the road was bare and dry all the way to the top (about a 5000' climb). So, I'm excited to get up there.

I think I'm going to be around 7600' this month. A far cry from my 13,000 goal. However, just 3 months ago I had not been on my bike since last June, and I was just 2 weeks into a walking program to get back into working out. So, three months later, I'll take it!

[jobob]

Starfish, I think you're doing great !

I had a bit of a setback the last couple of weeks, I came down with a head cold that's hung on for dear life, so I didn't ride at all the past week.

Today I was feeling pretty good so I rode up part of Calaveras Road, which is a reasonably shallow climb and not too taxing. It was very warm out today, but that's way better for me than the damp cold I rode in last Saturday, gah!

But, I'm happy to say I just squeeked by this month's goal of 18,000 feet, I'm at about 18,400.

I hope I can get in another 30 miles by Monday, cuz then I'll be up to 2000 miles by the end of April.