Did my commute route + an extra hill detour on the way home. Took along the Garmin. Found out I don't have to be embarrassed about spinning my heart rate back down after the first two little hills up from my street to the plateau towards work. They're short, but they're about 15% each. My nemesis hill, a mile beyond work and about a half mile long, tops out at 9%, but it's the long slog of it that gets to me. There are other hills between home and work that are steeper, not quite as steep as the first two and not quite as short, but shorter than Fortunalia and no big problem for me now. Anyhooo ... I made it to campus stopping only as traffic required and not sweaty enough to need a shower, then made Fortunalia with one stop about 2/3 up. The encouraging thing about that was that I can start up again on an 8-9% grade; I don't have to walk the rest just because my HR got to where I was afraid of getting wobbly. Other good news: The bike trail from campus up to the top of Fortunalia has been swept. No more layer of leftover sand from the winter. And the weather was very cooperative: It rained while I was at work, but was clear on my morning ride to campus and again after work on my hill climb and homeward ride. And it's getting lighter and lighter. 930pm now and still light outside.