Howdy,

Yesterday was the last long training ride I did before My First Century (doesn't that sound like something you get from Toyz-R-Us?) next weekend. I mapped it out beforehand to include as many hills as I could, as My First Century will be a flat one.

We started out at 7:30 and got out of the neighborhood and headed North for fifteen miles, over two long-grade hills. I kept the pace as slow as I could, considering it was 44 degrees out and I was wearing shorts, and desperate to get warm. My hands and feet and neck and legs were chilly on the downhills, to say the least. I had worn an underlayer under my jersey and I am glad I did. Mister Indy wore legwarmers and I am getting me a pair.

Then we headed West into the hills of NW RI and crossed the border. This road was full of some nice little sharp rolling hills, so I got lotsa practice in a gear shifting issue I was having. The problem I was having involved going down a long hill, then immediately hitting a new hill. I wasn't shifting efficiently to deal with that. So I worked out a solution that I am sort of happy with and have those little hills to thank.

We stopped at a scenic graveyard in Killingly, CT at mile 25 or so and had a banana. It was warmer at that point. Then we came down into Oneco and pulled off at a general store to check the maps. While we were doing that, a woman on a bike came up and started talking to us and asked us if we wanted to join their ride (going in the other direction.) We told her we'd join them some other time. She warned us of another hill coming up on our ride, "Oneco Hill." "Oh, you guys have to do Oneco Hill. Good luck." Heading off, I had a moment of dread thinking of this upcoming hill, and pressed on.

Well, I never saw this hill she was talking about. Sure, leaving Oneco, there was a hill, but if she wants hills, all she has to do is go to the bottom of my road.

We continued on down one of the prettiest highways in Eastern CT, past cornfields and cows and wood and dale, and on a downhill averaged 25-28 mph according to the computer, which I don't always trust. Lunch was at the state forest with these wicked cool new composting potties. I was quite impressed. It is a beautiful picnic area, very well kept. There's a water pump there where I filled up my bottles but the joke is, if you do drink the water there, you end up somehow pregnant with your cousin's child. So I was a little hesitant.

We continued on down and around back into Southern RI where hills 5-1 (in the top ten list) reside. I knew this because I planned the ride, and so I was ready for it. Having last week had so many issues at mile 52, I had swapped out my shorts for a thinner pair, prepared with plenty of good carbs in my system, and done neck and shoulder stretches all week in anticipation. I took it easy and up I went. Hill five. Done. Four. Now four is a hill with a hill within it. It goes up, levels out, goes up, and then comes down but then not ALL the way down - it goes up again and then down. In a car, this is where one can pick up 95 and so there are lots of exit and entrance areas and park and rides and the road is wide and busy. So you can't just putz along. That was a tough one but I did it. Hill 3 was nothing. Hill 2 lasted for ten minutes. It is a loooooong uphill leading out of Hopeless Valley. I also know this one as it is part of my shorter training route, but after 65 miles, it's a different story. I think it is three miles long or something. It's not that it is particularly steep, it just goes on and on. So I just went on and on. And the reward was a quick flight down into the hollow, and finally, up the last hill, the hill at my road, the F-U hill of all hills, with three switchbacks and a surprising last steep pitch that I usually think to myself, I'm gonna walk now. Well, I downshifted til there was nothing left, and I stood up. My legs felt like jelly, but I was determined to get up the hill. Finally, I was done with it, and got on the gravel road to home. Whoo hoooooo!!!!

5 hours not including lunch.
Av. speed 14-15. Av. speed on hills 8-10 mph according to Mister Indy. I didn't dare look.

Today I feel like not getting on the bike. I might later.

Indy