The climb of my life

So its been a while since I have wrote on here so I will start with an update.   Really there isn't much to update on, things are still being ironed out for the new team.  The website is now up @ Link.   In October I knocked a certain ride off my bucket list.  I rode from Hood River, OR to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.  Garmin Data   This ride can be summed up as pure hell, I have never suffered so much on a ride before.   All I can say is rides like this really tell you a lot about yourself and what you are able to do with a little motivation.   The ride was just a short 47 mile jaunt...however there was near 8000 feet of climbing and a not so nice east wind.   Being the brute I am, I only equipped my bike with 53/39 front rings and a 11-25 cassette.  Some pros would probably opt for easier gears on a climb like this.  

The ride started off in the mid afternoon sun, man was it cooking.  I couldn't wait to get to elevation and some cooler air.  The toughest part of this ride was the mountain, even from the start the thing was staring me down from the distance.  I left town and the road immediately slopped up.  It would stay that way all the way to the mountain.  Most the time the grade was easy around 4-6%,  I just kept a happy rhythm and keep a nice tempo.   However there were some times when the grade kicked up over 8% and that made the legs scream a bit.   The route I picked was rough, to get to Timberline Lodge I would need to climb the mountain twice.  The first summit would be on the east side of the mountain then I would descend down by Government Camp to climb up the south face to the lodge.  Easy right?  Well my legs were done after the first summit, 6000 feet of non stop climbing had really worked me over.  What made matters worse is the last 2000 was the hardest.  The trip from Government Camp to Timberline is wicked.  Road gradients ranged from 5-13%, being the person I am...I don't know when to quit. 

So I began the journey to the top.   I don't think there was a single moment the legs didn't scream, but somehow I just kept turning the pedals over.  My cadence dropped in the 60's on some of the 9%+ grades.  Far from my happy place, I struggled to get a rhythm going.  However I never gave up, well until just before the very end.  I stopped briefly before entering the parking lot to compose myself.  I was bonking and very light headed, I am shocked I didn't pass out.  After I regrouped myself I hammered on into the parking lot where Marisa and her friend Ryan were waiting to pick me up.   Mission accomplished!

On a side note, a lot of drivers passed me with these glares of "what the hell are you doing?"   However there was one car that stood out.  On my last leg to the lodge a man in a van passed me.  He was honking his horn like crazy and cheering me on out his window as he drove by.  That made my day and helped me get to the top.  He was the only one that stopped to cheer me on, but it made a big difference in my world.  Next up Iceman!