Finally climbed my nemesis- Mt. Scott

[ccsraj]

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!
Descending scared the HOLY H*LL out of me. 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 )
#3 is the view from the top
Thanks for reading.

Really terrific experience.

[RoadRaven]

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 )

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