Today we decided to attack the Harbor Bridge training of the 211 loop again. Tony and members of Pauline’s Last Hurrah team joined us. Once again, my heart rate monitor started going off as we waited for the light to change for the left turn across the highway. This time Vicki was surprised by it. I just shrug it off knowing that it’s nerves.
Pete is leading the crew and I know that I’m going to be on my own to get up the seven mile hill this time, without the assistance of the power meter. As I start to begin the climb and get into the “keep on chugging along” mentality, I realize Pete is stopped in a driveway ahead of me. I stop and have a quick Gu while he tells me he had a loose pedal, or something. We go a little further and he stops again, saying something is wrong, but sends me on my way.
Further down the road, I see one of our riders stopped and fixing a flat all alone. Just then Pete calls and informs me his crank arm is coming loose and he has to head back. He says he’ll drive SAG and see me in a bit. I mention the cyclist ahead and say I’ll call him back with an update. I stop and chat with Don as he finishes fixing his flat. Just as he gets the wheel back on, the tube pops again. He's not thrilled. He hadn’t been able to determine what caused the first flat and now he’s convinced that putting in another tube would just go flat again. I call Pete and leave a message asking him to pick up Don on his way out in the truck. I provide the distance and a quick landmark to direct him to the right location. Don assures me he’s fine and sends me on to finish my ride.
At this point, I’m not just the slow one up the hill, I’m miles behind. That’s okay because sometimes you just have to help your fellow riders. Plenty of people have offered me assistance even when I didn’t need it, so I know the drill and it's my turn to repay the favor. I start down the hill and am not looking forward to attempting this left turn again, especially without a second set of eyes to check for traffic. Just then, I see another cyclist changing a flat on the side of the road. Wow! I stop and check on the guy. He is not riding with us, but we have a quick exchange where I confirm he is good and doesn’t need anything.
I now have less momentum to get up the hill, but I was able to make the turn within the lane width and feel it was a safer turn. I shift and pedal making my way up the hill knowing that I can stop, but that I want to perfect this hill as it’s my Harbor Bridge training. I keep on pedaling and I get to the top with a gear or two to spare. I enjoy the downhill and make the next climb. I decide there isn’t much point in me going the full distance this time when I’m so far behind the group, so I turn back at the same point I did last time and pause for some Gu.
As I start the long and steady climb back up, I’m thankful the wind isn’t blowing like it was last time. I still haven’t seen Pete in the truck and now I’m beginning to get a bit worried. I don’t want to stop in middle of a climb though, so I keep pedaling. I begin to make deals with myself to not shift until I get to this sign, or that driveway, or that rock. I even picked a point at the top of the hill that I couldn’t stop until I got to it. I actually went a little beyond that point because as I approached it, I was being passed by another cyclist.
I pick up the phone to call Pete. He answers and tells me he’s climbing “the bridge”. I tell him I’m at the top and wave at him as he climbs. He tells me the bike mechanic at Roger Soler’s helped him tighten his crank arm and he was good to go to head back out. So he took off on the chase to catch me. He stopped when he got to Don and helped him change the flat again with one of Pete’s tubes. Then Don headed back to the truck.
About then, I turn around and Tony and crew are approaching at the end of their climb. Tony announces he made the climb in his big ring! “Show off!” I don’t know why he’d want to make it that hard on himself to climb the hill other than so that he can say he did it. Must be a guy thing! We exchange some idle chit chat and Vicki catches up with us too. Lilian pulls out her camera and snaps a few photos of the group at the top of the hill.
Now it’s time to climb “the wall” and this week I’m determined to pedal the whole thing without stopping all the way to the top. I stopped down shifting with two gears left and started the deal making with points along the hill. I picked a driveway for my second to last shift, but when I got there I didn’t need it, so I moved the point to the next driveway. By then, I needed the gear and shifted. Now I had one shift left and my legs were burning. Pete shouted some words of encouragement and I tried to latch on to those.
Pete warns me that a cyclist is passing me and cheers me on while coaching me to hold my line. Truth be told, although it was a hard climb, I was sweating like crazy, huffing and puffing, and my legs were burning, I was holding my line well and wasn’t wobbling all over the road. However, being that tired and working that hard, wobbling is a potential so the warning was worth it. A little further and Pete warns me that Vicki is approaching me and will be passing shortly. It saved Vicki some breath and she wasn’t passing all that fast. Then, I made it to the top of the hill. I stopped at the blue sign at the top and just leaned over my handlebars huffing and puffing. Finally able to take some deep breaths, I look up and see Vicki hitting her thighs. I can’t decide if this is her version of a tantrum, or if something is wrong. Just then, she clips back in and heads down the hill, so she must be fine. I take another minute to drink some Gatorade and have a Gu.
Pete and I head out in tandem with him setting the pace. We’re moving at a good clip, but I’m gaining on him (without pedaling.) I told you my gravitational advantage works well down hills. As we’d discussed after last week’s ride, I holler at Pete to “grab a gear” – meaning “kick it up a notch”, or “go faster!” With the wind whipping by though, he can’t understand me, just heard something. So I holler louder “Grab a fear!” He seems to have misunderstood me and is slowing and even unclips a foot like he thinks I want to stop. I scream, “Not stop! Go faster!” Now I know he heard me because he shakes his head no and shouts back, “I can’t. Cramping!”
Yikes! I back off and give him some space to work out the cramp, or decide to stop. He clips back in, so I roll up on his wheel. He worked out the cramp, but I’m still worried. This is the first time Pete has had trouble on one of our rides and it’s happened twice today. Apparently, I use some energy on this concern and I’m inconsistent all the way back to the truck. We fly on some portions and others I fall way back. It was a good ride though and everyone made it back under their own leg power!
Goals
Today's Miles: 21
Total Miles Achieved: 766.72
Financial Investment: $1988.47
Total Weight Loss: 0
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