The Hills Are Alive!

I have 21 days until my San Francisco to LA bike tour, so I'm ramping up my training this week and next before I start tapering down the last week. My plan was to ride 30 miles today after work on the river trail, but after talking with Eric, my unpaid cycling coach, I decided to try the hills in Signal Hill. For some reason I haven't ridden my bike there before, and always opted for Palos Verdes instead. Maybe I just forgot that I could train there, or that they were of any significance. Boy was I wrong! I did not realize the level of difficulty of these hills! I rode for 1 hour and 25 minutes and only went 10.38 miles! There were no flat roads anywhere, just hills! I was either going down or up!

I started my training out by locking my keys and my Camelbak in my car. Of course it was cold and windy and my jacket was in my Camelbak, in my car. Fortunately I had my cell phone and sleeves in my pockets, so I called AAA, put my sleeves on a went for a ride before they came to rescue me. How did I end up choosing the second most challenging hill to start on I don't know. But I started going downhill, which is the funnest part of the ride for me, then I began the climb up Hill Avenue. I started my ride out by getting my butt kicked. And it didn't stop until I got off my bike 1 hour and 25 minutes later. Skyline Drive is no friend to me! I went down the west side of the hill toward the end of my workout and began the climb back up. A guy i passed going down, who looked like he was training for a hiking trip because he had a huge hiking backpack on, asked me as I was beginning my climb "You're going to do that?" I replied "yes", laughed and began the challenge. On the way down I did not realize just how steep this hill was. I focused on my breathing, held on, made sure my toes were pointed up throughout my rotations, prayed, and kept it to moving. There were a couple of times I thought I was going to have to stop and wasn't sure if I was going to make it to the top. But I kept reminding myself my car is at the top of this hill and I'm almost there. All of this worked! I made it to the top and did a few more repeats of the hills before I called it quits. My 30 miles on the river trail would have been a whole lot easier, but instead I chose to live it up in the hills! LOL!

Enjoy the journey!