Full Marion hill ride CONQUERED!!!

If you remember, a few days a go I attempted an intense hill ride. If you don't remember or are new you can read about it here and or here.  Let's do a quick review, the last hill ride ended with a partial fail, as I had to get off and walk part of one hill. Even though I don't really consider it a fail mostly because I had run 11 miles that morning, and really didn't have much left in my legs. Sunday's ride looked something like this.

Yesterday's ride looked like this.

Now this wasn't just a whim ride. It was planned,  after my last posting to Facebook my uncle Scot (super rider) contacted me about doing the full Marion hill ride later in the week. I jumped at the opportunity to ride with and learn from his expansive riding experience. Yesterday I was completely recovered from the recent activity and set out with fresh legs to conquer that which I thought I may not be able to. Not because of a lack of physical ability, but more so from a lack of experience.

As luck would have it the entire way out to our turn around point we had a light breeze which made all of these great inclines just that much tougher. Up through the turn around point I had felt pretty strong with the exception of a lengthy incline somewhere between mile 4 and 5, and during the long drawn out incline from mile 7 to right about mile 8. That kinda sucked, but at no time did I feel like quitting or that I wasn't going to be able to hang. Well, at least not until the return trip. It all started around mile 12 when my bike decided to drop four gears to the lowest sprocket mid a moderate hill climb causing me to burn up valuable muscle and strength resources which I was going to need on the next very steep and long hill climb. This next hill climb was the very same spot where I had to get off and walk up to the top before restarting during the last ride.

As we started our ascent I was pointing out the spot where I had to get off and walk to Scot, and he said "you won't have to this time.", I wasn't so sure, but as we passed that spot and continued onward I began to realize that he was right and that I wouldn't need to stop today. Somehow I found the extra push that I need and as we crested the top of the hill Scot informed me that the climb that we had just completed was at the very least a 14 degree incline. That same hill section is roughly a quarter of a mile long which made that climb seem never ending. After that the rest of the ride was smooth and pretty easy. Which gave us a chance to chat, and I got to hear a few of his riding stories. We rode back toward my house until the road splits off and Scot let me know that he was going to get some more miles, and that we would have to do it again.

I could not agree more, and can't wait until I get the chance to go!