I am a certified burly girl now. That was a great ride and I'm really happy I did it. I really loved all the wonderful little touches like flowers in the urinals and the funny pictures of stepford-husband types, fawning over our accomplishments. I have to admit, however, that having experienced domestic abuse (not saying where or when, just not right now), I found myself going into "poor me" mode as I passed all the signs stating statistics and facts about domestic abuse; where were these resources when I needed them, and so on and so on. I was feeling a little down on the menfolk by the time I passed the firemen, so my perception of the whistling and such were not as positive as everybody else's.

I didn't think Tiger Mountain was all that bad, and the descent was pretty darn fun. The last, never ending climb was fairly painful, but the view at the top was well worth it and the descent was smooth as silk. I was grinning like an idiot all the way down.

I did shake off the self pity and really began to appreciate what this organization was doing for society at large with this sort of outreach. Definitely a must for next year. And maybe a little extra donation.