First Bike Ride of the Season...So, Hills, How Have You Been?

Happy First Day of Spring! Today I finally got that bike ride in...on true road rather than the trainer and it was awesome for many reasons which I will tell you about shortly....I first wanted to remind you that:

Today also marks the beginning of the first Think Spring Giveaway on Mom Got Blog! Be sure to comment on the giveaway post any time from now through March 27th stating "What does spring mean to you?"  and have your chance at winning a $25 Visa Gift Card and a First Aid Kit! So far we have a few entries, so chances look pretty good! Winner will be randomly drawn from the comments on the giveaway post and announced on Monday, March 29th! Good luck!

Now for what I did on the First Day of Spring....

My husband was itching to get his bike on the road and I have to admit, I was too. He picked a familiar route that we did on Reenactment Day and for the first ride this year, I have to say, it was better than I expected.

We had the same Motley Crew that did that 4-loop ride with an additional rider named Dave that has shared a few Tour de Cure rides with us. Today, we did only one loop and that was plenty! You would think with all the running and few times on the trainer that I faithfully did over the winter would help my lung capacity...uh, no. Not at all. Legs were good, but I was suckin' wind like there was no tomorrow!

It didn't help either that the headwind was annoyingly strong, making the ride seem that much harder. After cresting the first hill and enjoying the fast descent, we came to the first roundabout and I remember asking my friend Alison, "Didn't we just have the wind on our face climbing that last hill? How can we have it on this upcoming hill? It is the opposite direction!" Our attention was then averted to the blackness that seemed to surround us in every direction. The park does a controlled burn to get the old brush out to let the new grow in and our noses told us with the smokey smell in the air that it was a fresh burn.

I finally came to terms with the fact that the wind would be in my face rather than at my back for the rest of the ride.

Came across a fella that needed help with his tire-so the group stopped to help a fellow rider out. I think we found him in the nick of time as it gave us all a much needed "breather" break. We then continued to pick off the hills one by one. Got to the spot on this course that I have nicknamed "Jurassic Park". In the summer, it is loaded and I mean l-o-a-d-e-d with ferns and with the trees and hanging vines as the backdrop, well it kind of looks like dinosaur land. Winter gives it a whole different feel. It's just brown. Yuk.

Just after this section comes the snotty hill that my husband crushes us on- every. single. freaking. ride. I know it's coming and he knows my comment of "you suck!" (which I mean in the most loving way) will soon follow. He is a master on the hills, plain and simple.

One of the goals that I acheived last year was to not ride ANY hill in my "granny gear", which was accomplished. However, I usually always start out the season with this gear on decent hills. I was going to test myself today and see if I could climb in my middle ring...and you know what? I did it! I climbed my first hill of the season in my middle ring! YES! I had to get out of my saddle to do it, but it got done!

We then entered the "2-Mile, Dead Cyclist Riding" zone. This is the last two miles of the ride and it is all uphill to the parking lot. "Granny" was not going to be visited on this part of the ride either!

There is a sign just up the last hill, before reaching the parking lot that says "Stop Ahead". Alison asked me to mention that it is her favorite sign to see at the end of the ride-It signals the day's work is done. On this particular ride, it's my favorite sign too.