A Day in the Hills?!
Another session of instruction, this time in the hills. The day, however, started off with thunderstorms at my house. Bad weather is not the way I wanted to start my day of riding. I checked the weather app – not really helping. It only showed rain. I contacted Tracy to check what the conditions were in the meetup area. She was already starting her day, in some rain, and hitting the hills. We agreed to keep in touch before making any decision. She had a goal of 10,000 feet of climbing that day, and the rain wasn’t stopping her.
I kept an eye on the weather. The forecast showed the rain leaving. Although there was no guarantee that rain would not affect my plans, I decided that I was going to see what Mother Nature had in store. My bike was loaded, gear ready, and I was well on my way. I was apprehensive. Today was hills, more than the slight inclines we had been doing. I could feel the adrenaline already building. What if there was not really any rain, but wet roads? Adrenaline pumping.
I made it to the trailhead in no time at all. My bike was out, ready to ride. I was gearing up when Tracy appeared as if out of nowhere, rolling in on her bike. After a few minutes of review, we were headed to the hills. The first set came up quickly. They were easy hills, just a little warm-up. The roller coaster. And that is exactly what they were as I enjoyed the warm-up, in spite of the gray clouds overhead.
We hit more hills than I can remember the names of. Of the few names, I can remember, one set was the Stair Steps. They were just exactly how they sounded. Sugarloaf was another. The key elements I had picked up the past few times with Tracy became important factors today. Pedal stroke. Smoothness in that pedal stroke. I have been more aware of this the last few times I have been out, and today it was a good thing. Climbing the hills is easier now. Each hill we approached loomed ahead. Each one looked insurmountable. Yet, I took the visual and broke it into thirds. Then, I noticed that as soon as I was on the hill, it really wasn’t that big and overwhelming. Wow! Talk about the cliché “making a mountain out of a molehill”. This realization took me a moment to grasp. And then… I was hooked. Even though some of the hills were hard, they were not impossible. At one point, I was climbing a hill and wanted another gear. Oh, no! No more gears. That was ok. I didn’t feel like I couldn’t make it up the hill, I just wanted it to be easier. But I realized that in fact, I didn’t “need” easier because the gear I was in was just fine! Score!
Of course, that was uphill. Let’s talk about the downhill. Yes, there was downhill. The day turned out sunny and warm. AND windy. So the downhills were still something that caused me anxiety. I worried about cars, wet roads, speed in general. Now adding a chance for a strong gust of the wind from the side didn’t lessen that worry. It took a while, but towards the end, I did find my fear had lessened quite a bit. Feathering the brakes was my go-to move. I would like to say I didn’t use them at all, but I did. The big thing about this ride in the hills was that I practiced feathering them, and I learned how to stabilize the bike with leg position. More practice needed. The only way to get over the fear is … experience. Nothing can help like experience. You can bet I will be practicing more. A nice payoff today was feeling in control of my bike going downhill. While I may not be comfortable going other people’s speeds yet, the result of this session ended in me finding my comfort zone to go downhill at a decent speed. My fastest speed was about 30 mph today – I’ll take it.
A new takeaway today: dealing with road sand. While we talked about sand on the road in a previous lesson, a new detail on how to approach a corner of a road or intersection with sand or other challenges like potholes came up. See…there is always something new to learn, always another nuance to add color to what I thought I knew.
Tracy was great for the entire lesson. I never felt pressured to go any faster than I was comfortable. She reassured me, as always, that she wasn’t going to leave me behind. And, as always, she was always there with me. You might think that would not be a big deal, as I work towards gaining that much-needed confidence, having her guidance makes a big difference. With experience comes confidence, she says. I know she started as a newbie, too, so I take her example and trust that the next hill I climb and the descent will be less threatening and more thrilling!!
Photos
Ciao,
Diana | TeamOne
