Hills... What hills? or My 1st hill training route attempt.

Hills, What hills? I don't see any hills.

Today my afternoon antsiness got the better of me. I had already done 11 miles for my long training run, but somehow I didn't feel like I was done. So, after we got the boys down for their rest time I decided that it would be a great idea to go for a ride.  I guess in the grand scheme of things it actually is a good idea to be active after your long runs, but I am pretty sure that this is not what they mean by keep active.

I was just heading out for a slow take it easy kind of recovery ride, but somewhere in the first mile that all changed. My competitive side kicked in and took full control of my ride. I guess it was reading all of the tweets and posts of all the people doing tri's today. I kinda wished that I was competing today too. Well this leisurely ride I had set out to do quickly turned into this hill ride that my uncle Scot was telling me was the best hill training ride in our neck of the woods.  I think that I cut it off short because he said it was about 15 miles and my route only ended up being 11. That is okay by my because this route was no joke, and about did me in as it was. 

I probably shouldn't have even attempted this with it being the hottest part of the day and having no water with me, but I felt well hydrated and had just eaten not to long ago so I was plenty fueled for the ride. It all started off pretty good, then the hills started, and not your ordinary average hills either. My first challenge I was prepared for as I have ridden past and driven up it many times.  I mis-judged my gearing, but managed to make it up at a pretty good pace. I thought that this particular hill would be my biggest challenge and the rest would be kind of rolling.  Boy was I ever WRONG. I had no idea what was in store for me on the rest of this hill training ride, but I was to find out soon. My next surprise came in the form of  a huge down hill section of road. So huge in fact that I broke the speed limit by almost ten miles an hour with a top speed of 44.3 MPH. About half way down I had the pleasure of being hit by a big freakin' bug right in my shoulder. YIKES! That freakin hurt, and I think that it was stuck to my shirt too. In fact it almost made me lose control as I am pretty new to the being hit with big bugs a high speeds kinda thing.  I held it together well enough to focus on the next vicious hill and clear it relatively well. Next was the turn around and right back in to another hill and the monster one that I had just came down. I thought that I was going to be able to stay on my bike and clear it, but I screwed up my gear changes and had to walk my bike .14 miles to the top and start the return trip over.

The next section of road is fairly relaxed and gave me a welcome break from the massive climbs that I had just completed.  I was slightly relieved knowing that I had a huge decline coming up followed by a sharp but quick incline back to a flat which led back home.  I wasn't finished with surprises for this ride yet though. before I could reach the long decline someone tried calling me which prompted me to lose focus and swerve a bit going faster than normal. Then as I was reaching a peak downhill speed I was once again struck by a big freaking bug. This time it was in my cheek just below the rim of my glasses. All I could think was damn that hurt, and really? that didn't just happen did it.

The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful, and went really smooth. Until I had to stop that is. Upon stopping in my driveway I got unclipped alright, but I almost crumpled under the weight of my own body and had the bike fall on me.  I regained my legs and averted the catastrophe. All in all I feel that it was a pretty productive ride and look forward to the rematch.

Ride Stats:

Total Time: 46:14
Avg. Speed : 14.32
Top Speed: 44.2mph
Total Distance: 11.04
Total Climb: 904ft (I think it might be more my GPS has been funny)