kansan takes on mountain

i did it! every year i've come to this camp ground and every year i've felt like i was going to die just walking around. my heart would start pound and my lungs would heave. not this time!

i drove down the hill with my bike because i didn't know if i'd be able to climb it. i wanted an escape option. if i got too tired, i'd be able to turn around and coast down. turns out that wasn't necessary.

i started out riding the centennial trail into woodland park, a ride of nearly six miles, almost all of it uphill. i stopped in town and rested a bit. i wasn't exhausted, but i was tired enough that stopping felt good.

after five minutes or so, i clicked back in and pedaled back to the camp road. well, i didn't pedal much on some sections. i hit over 30mph several times on the steep downhill sections of the trail. i hated slowing for the street crossings, but had to do it. there were two places where i would've hit a car if i hadn't braked.

arriving back at my van, i took a minute or two to switch to sunglasses. the amber lenses i'd been using weren't quite enough to make the glare of the morning sun bearable. i'd been up since just before 5:00 and the light had changed a bit. the temps had too. it was almost 40 degrees when i started up toward the camp.

i had anticipated two miles of pain when i thought of this ascent at home. i imagined the lack of oxygen and the sections of six and seven percent grade doing me in. the suffering i dreamed of in kansas didn't come. i climbed slowly and steadily all the way up. not once did my heart rate get close to my red line. i inhaled and exhaled in a regular, non-labored way. no problems.

on the way down, i'd noted the distance from the camp quaker ridge sign to the actual camp, so when i passed under it i knew i had only seven tenths of a mile to go. that last seven tenths was probably the hardest and steepest section of the ride. i just kept pedaling, creeping along at 5-6mph. i pushed it a bit for a quarter mile or so and got up near 8mph. not an incredible pace, i know. but this kansas flatlander was pretty pleased.

fifteen plus miles was by far more than i expected to get in. one other year, i'd been here and hardly been able to ride for thirty minutes on a borrowed bike. after nearly an hour and a half, i felt like i could've ridden more. i stopped because i needed to get a few things done before breakfast. i'll be back out tomorrow. no driving the van down the mountain then. i'm planning to go north on the centennial trail and see what i can discover. (15.73 miles @ 11.1mph)