Okay, maybe not....but to the top (ish) of Sunshine Canyon!
So, yesterday (with Ken's guidance of course) I decided to ride up Sunshine Canyon here in Boulder. Ken has raced this climb twice and thus has a good idea what the mountain is all about. Well, he told me that it was a pretty good climb. "Not too bad." Well my friends-it was HARD! Not-oh, it was a little steep so I will just go slow...it was-OH MY GOSH I MIGHT FALL OFF OF THE BACK OF MY BIKE hard!
Let me set the stage for you....
It is 3:20 pm and I am heading out of the office to ride. It is raining (not too hard, but not a drizzle either) and there is thunder in the distance. The area I am riding towards looks like it is clearing up, so off I go. I ride 15 minutes of bike path (plus rain) to reach the bottom of the climb and then it begins. It is not long before I am in my easiest gear spinning my way up the mountain. I pulled my sunglasses off because they were COVERED in rain drops and I couldn't see anything-that meant rain in the eyes-awesome! Luckily within the first 2 miles of the climb, the rain came to an end. I was dripping wet, but in reality, it felt pretty darn good! The ascent was what I expected...not too difficult....UNTIL I went passed Poorman's Road! Then, out of no where, the road turned vertical! I am not kidding, so steep! I was breathing so hard and my heart was pounding out of my chest. Red zone anyone?
When I finally reached the top of that portion, I thought my legs were going to fall off. Not to worry, I still had miles left to go! I kept climbing and climbing. Now, don't get me wrong-I LOVE the pain of climbing a big hill, but Ken was out of his mind when he said it wasn't bad. It was! When I reached the sign that said "Pavement Ends" (my destination and turn around spot) I almost cried with joy! I MADE IT!! I was so excited that I just turned around and headed down the mountain (the descent was scarier than the climb up, that's for sure!). When I reached the bottom I called Ken to tell him I had finished. I wish that everyone could have heard the shock in his voice when I told him I had made it UP and back DOWN. It was priceless. I felt so accomplished!
He picked me up at my office and we headed home where I put the smack down on dinner. The rest of the evening involved some errands and baking a carrot cake :-) YUM! Bed never felt so good! And the most amazing part....I was not too sore getting out of bed this morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment