Tears of Joy..

The wind is strong. The air is cold. The road never ends.

Today, I truly understand what I had put on my blog head. I have ever ridden so much hills at the same time face such a strong wind before. The title for this post should be grunt of joy. When I was out of my saddle to climb, I would grunt every other stroke. There was one hill, where I grunt all the way up. I felt like a female tennis player all of a sudden.

Can you say ghetto? Notice the glass bottle I used to hold my eload powder. It works and it fits that space.

I lost one of the cage on the way back..maybe this explained my sudden increase of speed on the return trip? :D

After the first climb, I thought, 'ok, that's just one.' Then there is another. Ok, let's climb this one and then take a break. Then another..ok let's take this one and break....well, it might trick my brain but it didn't trick my legs.

I got up early at 4 am. Just like any morning of race day, I could never sleep. I loaded up my bike. I mean really loaded it up. 3 bottles, 2 tubes, pump , digicam, first aid stuff, bottle with eload, 3 gel flasks (w/ gel). Bike had became a tank.

Once I got up north, it got really chilly. There was no sun and a lot of hills. After climbing one, there would be another one popping up staring me in the face. I have asked for hills to train on. Well, today I got my present. I passed a ski resort. I climbed on the hills they used for skiing. :O I did not got off my bike and walk. I grunt my way up. (I did walked two times on other hills b/c I messed up my gears). On their website, it said the hill was 375 ft. Good stuff...

Once I finished my third bottle, I went to a gas station to get more water. As I stood there mixing my drinks, I thought about heading back. I decide I would considering my legs were getting shaky. That was about hr 5 into the trip.

That's right..it's snow. Can you say chilly?

Just one of the hills I had to confront.

This was on my way back. Sunny was out and no wind...perfect.

As I headed back, I dropped by a Subway and orderd a footlong (hr 6). The whole trip, I never felt hunger. I think this is a good sign. I am taking enough gel and don't have to worry about bonking.

As we all know, what goes up must come down and headwind easily became a tailwind. I took different roads on the way back and for 10-15 km, there were stretches where it was flat and quiet. On my aero, I was going 35-45 kph (21-28 mph). I passed a farm vehicle :D...I thought about drafting behind it..just a thought.

Once I headed back to suburbia, I missed the quietness of backroads. I was planning to ride more once I got back home to drop off some un-necessary gears. Seeing my dad and sis cleaning the house and my legs complaining from all the hill climbing, I figured I would call it a day and do some cleaning as well.

I didn't realize I hit 200 km until I gmap my path. Actually it was 210 km. I was about 30 km away from where I want to go. But hey, I got my 200 km under my belt..I am happy.

For those who love the numbers...this trip gave me a lot of PR... :D

Calories burned: 5600
Weight before: 145 lbs
Weight after: 145 lbs (good sign...eat enough and drink enough)
Distance: 210 km
Time: 9 hr (1 hr spent on taking break and lunch)
Gel taken: ~15
Food consumed: 2 bagels with PB (~1000 calories), 1 footlong coldcut sub, salt n vinegar chips (200 calories), two clif bar
Max speed: 69.9 kph (43.68 mph) [FAST!!!]
Avg speed: Based on time and distance...about 25 kph (15 mph)

Things I have to work on:
- hill climbing (switching gears, maintain steady position as I climb out of my saddle)
- hydration (I went to washroom hr 1, hr 3, hr 7 and hr 9. What happen to hr 4-6??)
- carry less stuff, over worried about this trip.

Overall..a great day to ride. I look forward to hitting those hills again. Now I have a place to train for IM Lake Placid.