BRAT: I think I've bitten off more than I can chew

[blueskies]

It's really just Day 5 that I'm worried about (the one with over 7k in 52 miles). That would be hard on any day, but on the next to last day of riding, it seems even more intimidating. The elevation profile looks like an EKG gone terribly wrong.

If it's any consolation, the experienced Cycle Oregon riders that I've talked to have all said the same thing about the effects of cumulative riding over a week. They all say that day 3 is always the hardest, and then after that you just feel stronger & stronger with each passing day. I hope it's true!

And remember: you are IndySTEEL!

[TsPoet]

I can't remember who it was, but someone had a tag line that said "I’ve never met a hill to steep to walk". On bike Washington a few weeks ago, I lived by that moto. I calculated how long it would take me to walk up "peaks" that were too steep for me to ride, did a ride/walk thing and only sagged over one.
I had a blast!
Go, have fun, relax, walk when you need to and sag when you need to.

[Beane]

"I’ve never met a hill to steep to walk".

isn't that the truth. Although, I did a "challenge ride" this year and walked so many times I pretty much destroyed my plastic Look cleats...

I'm thinking next time I'll bring some oversized Crocs in a camelbak and slip my bike shoes into them when I need to walk!

..the funniest part was when I was hiking up a hill pushing my bike and some guy comes up next to me and starts to walk his bike and says, "gee, sure wish I had one of those triple chainrings." Like he felt the need to point out that if he'd had a triple he'd be buzzing right by me!