Feeling so defeated

[andtckrtoo]

Oh, man! Hills can take a lot out of you! Don't feel bad at all. I'm impressed you could ride 36 miles of them if you haven't ridden them before.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I think getting through a 36 mile very hilly ride is something to be proud and happy about.
If I have a lousy ride I just figure it was good to be outside and getting some good exercise if nothing else. hills make me stronger...even if I'm walking up them.

Sort of like the old "Is the glass half full or half empty?".

[bluebug32]

Looking back you were able to identify all of the things that you might have done differently to effect the outcome of the ride. That's great! What a wonderful realization and learning experience. Next time you'll know to eat more, etc. Biking is about constantly learning and making little tweaks. Mentally it's hard for anyone to stay in the game if you're bonking because your brain is fueled by glucose, which you weren't getting enough of. Good luck and keep plugging away. You'll get there!

[Miranda]

It's defeat only if you let it be. So many things to learn from it.

I did my hilliest and close to longest single ride I have done just today. Not to be a blow hard in any way, but it actually went well. The only way it did was with a lot of preparation and planning. I do not like surprises. In biking. And in life in general. Generally... I like a 'plan'. I need time to think about things. To visualize what's gonna happen.

I know this is a bit OTT, but for my ride today... I drove most of the course before. This was after having some of my guy ride pals completely freak me out on "... on man, those are some hills up in that area... yea, real lung burners... one right after another like roller coasters blah blah blah...".

When I would ask... "uumm, ok, 'qualify' please... % of grade? total grade? short and steep? What??? ". Nothing specific. Just the "oh my, the horror... arggg" drama.

Once I knew exactly how hilly the course was, I compared it to the only "one" hill I had ridden out that far. I knew if I could climb it... then the rest would be do-able too. My new ride pal I took out there said (on that same hill).... "omg! Miranda! What are you trying to do??? Kill me???". After we climbed it, she said... "hmm, not so bad... looked worse than it was... this would make a great training repeat interval...". Bingo.

Eating and drinking is big time important. It's not exactly what you eat just that morning for breakfast either. Try to plan (again, my neurotic planning theme) days before. Hydrate, hydrate... load up good stuff. Plan your energy with other activities, sleep, etc.

And be patient. Don't give up. Today I really really really wanted to just hammer out the last few miles of the whole course. However, I don't currently know where to re-fill for more H2O. That's a deal breaker until I do. BUT... I followed some very good training advice here on TE (which I did not starting out)... I planned to add on gradually. I was a bit sore and tired... but NOT totally spent. I felt good enough to ride more. But stopped just short of that point.

That last part is a really fine line to learn. But a really good lesson.

Chip up GF... you pick just "one" of those bad azz hills that got you... and go ride the living he$$ outta it on repeats like an interval. Until the hill is dead. And you are not. Then, any sibling of the hill... it's cake.

[Possegal]

My sister and her family are in Philly and I ride a lot with them - I've ridden some of the hills in the counties around there, and there are some really challenging ones. And I say this as a native of Pittsburgh, with all her glorious hills. If you haven't been riding hilly courses, you picked a tough place to start. Given that, I think you did OUTSTANDING and you should try and be pleased with what you did accomplish and not belabor what you didn't. Now you have a new goal to go for, nothing wrong with that.

Don't beat yourself up, you did better than you think you did!!!

[Zen]

http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/ov...f-failure.html

[jobob]

Yikes, a 50-mile hilly ride is a lot to expect from yourself if you're not accustomed to hilly rides! So cut yourself some slack.

Really, you might read about a lot of us (well, me in past tense) doing long hilly rides, but we all needed to build up to them.

So please don't feel defeated.

[laura jane]

Thank you ladies. I did learn from this that I need to prepare myself as much as possible for the ride. Which means driving the course (if possible) so I don't suddenly stumble upon 'the Alps'. And I did learn a good bit from the mechanic when I needed some adjustments, which made my riding easier. I've decided I need to do a lot more reading about nutrition and also learned I hugely underestimated the amount of food I need to keep myself functioning on a ride.

[surgtech1956]

36 miles and hilly - that is something to be proud of. Think of it as a learning experience - eat more before, etc.... I agree - cut yourself some slack.

[NoNo]

I had the same feeling last week when I couldn't complete my first century. Don't feel bad, think about what you did well and what you learned about your nutrition needs. Soon the disappointment will turn to anger to be used to try again. I applaud your 36 hilly miles, I hate hills!