achy legs, sore thumbs, and a sweaty camelbak

Well, this week we have been tackling more hills. I will never look at an incline, a slope, a hill, a bump, even a driveway, the same way again. Last Sunday (April Fools), we had a good introduction to hill climbing with Jerry, our CCC coach. We were able to make it partway up the hill in Huddart Park, Woodside. It was curvy, steep, and not too long, but we were still in agony. We did 1000 feet of climbing from Canada Road to Huddart Park. So, what do we do on our midweek ride? The same thing! We went back to the scene of the crime and got even further up the hill in Huddart Park, which made us happy and sore. My problem and new fear are actually the downhill descents. I can't seem to be able to control my speed and am deathly afraid for my life and others who may be passing by in a car. I've done some reading and have a few new ideas on how to tackle this. Today, I tried the largest chainring in the front, which slowed things down a bit. I can also sit more upright (causes more air resistance, less aerodynamic), scoot my tush to the back more, and grip the drops of the handlebars to brake (makes it easier to squeeze). I need to be careful not to squeeze the brakes the entire way down, which is essentially what I was doing, because the tires could blow! Eeks! My life was hanging on to the teensy strength of my thumbs, which had to squeeze the brakes or die!

This new foray into hill climbing reminded me of the time Mel and I were studying for our pediatric rheumatology boards and confused ourselves silly with the whole red muscle fiber vs. white muscle fiber, anaerobic vs. aerobic, glycolysis vs. oxygen transport, endurance vs sprinting myofibers, lots vs. little mitochondria. Remember Mel? It's really not too difficult and I should look it up again.....once I can pull myself up with my legs, I'll get up and look it up in the text.

Yesterday, April 7, 2007, we went with Jerry again and did a Canada Road, Sand Hill, Alpine Road, Portola Valley loop. It was about 24 miles around the Woodside/ Palo Alto area. It included some gradual, longish, uphill inclines, which gave us a different experience from the Huddart Park hill. This time, it wasn't as steep, but it seemed to go on forever! It wasn't like you could muscle yourself up a little steep hill because you could see the top. It was more like a long ramp up that wasn't particularly steep if you looked at it, but just constantly going up. I also had my first experience riding with moderate traffic. I'm getting better at using my little side mirror, but still depend on Jerry and Mel to guide me through traffic and yelling out "Car front," "Rider back," as well as pointing out potholes and such to avoid. It was also my first day with my new camelbak, which caused me great achiness in my back and shoulders, but at least I was well hydrated! I definitely need more practice with all of this!

We had lunch at the Woodside Bakery Cafe at the bottom of Canada Road after our ride and then decided to check out more uphill climbs that Jerry had casually mentioned to us, including 84 to Skyline, Kings Mtn to Skyline, Old La Honda to Skyline and Page Mill to Skyline, with 84 being the easiest climb up and Page Mill the most challenging. Well, that really stunned and terrified me, because going up 84 to Skyline and downhill on Page Mill IN THE CAR was really really scary! I can't imagine ever being able to ride A BIKE up those windy, curvy, narrow, steep, long inclines! It was both steep and went up for miles! There's no way, NO WAY!!, I kept thinking, but we did indeed see bicyclists huffing and puffing up the road. Maybe in another life, in another body...

Today, I felt rather wimpy. We went out again to Hillsborough to one of our first rides, the Sawyer Camp Trail. There were still some people around, but not too crowded, and we practiced up the hill again. It's a respectable hill. We definitely did better than the first time- we were faster and stopped less. So that's a good sign. It was only 12 miles, but any time there was a bit of uphill, my legs were burning, so we took it easy today and didn't push the mileage. It was a beautiful day, so I finally whipped out the camera again and got some action shots of Mel:




This upcoming week is a bit busy work-wise for both of us (can you tell I'm totally procrastinating right now writing this lengthy, wordy blog?). It's also going to rain, so we might have to workout indoors in the gym on the trainers again. Tomorrow is a day of rest.