I keep reinforcing with myself that hills are my friend (don't know that I'm thoroughly convinced yet). My average speed, depending on the hill can be anywhere between 5 mph up to 10 mph. Seems I hover around 6-7 mph, depending on the hill.

The weekend of July 30th, I encountered a hill that was the mother of all hills. It was probably about a 10% grade and it went on for over a mile. I was riding as a crew for the Susan G. Komen 3 day 60 mile walk. My bike was loaded down with gear for the 3 days and it was heavier than usual. There was no way I was going to make it up that hill. I ended up about a quarter of the way and had to stop. Of course, it was in the high 80s to low 90s and the heat index was somewhere around 105. I had no choice but to walk my bike up the rest of the hill. Sweat was literally pouring off of me. Walkers were having difficulty going up that hill and here I am, with a bike & extra gear on the bike, along with my camel pak, with extra stuff in it walking up that hill. I made it but I swear if the 3 day is on this side of town again next year, I am going to ride that hill somehow (even if I have to hold on to a car ).

I read a few weeks ago on Team Estrogen that someone suggested "boobs to the tube." How appropriate for the 3 day and I kept repeating that saying to myself when climbing hills (except for the mother of all hills). I made it up everyone while chanting "boobs to the tubes."