GREAT RIDE!!! :)

Ugh, I feel AWESOME!!! I've got the love back--for now anyway, but I'll take it! :) I met up with someone on BikeForums.net that said he was doing a Thursday night ride from a local bike shop. The website that had details for the ride said it was a "casual, intermediate" ride. Okay, sounds good... we'll check it out. Thinking it was going to be just that--casual, intermediate (I take that to mean simply, "no beginners")--I took one water bottle and a grumbling, empty stomach, as I hadn't eaten much today. I wasn't too worried about the empty stomach part, but I wanted something, so I ate some Gu Chews--about 200 calories worth. Little did I know I would probably burn 6-8 times that.

As we stood around in the parking lot (there were five of us), the rain clouds started forming, thunder rumbled in the sky, and lightning flashed in the not-so-distant distance. ;) We rolled out anyway around 5:45 at a good 16-17MPH pace. Down Jollyville, past my apartment. Down one of my least favorite hills, Great Hills, and down Highway 360. We turned up a road called Lakewood Rd, and the climbing started. I had seen a stone sign saying "Jester" and I think my heart skipped a beat. Jester Rd is supposed to be a very tough road. Anyway, we went up a short, shallow climb, enough to warm me up and make me feel like passing out at the same time (warming up sucks for me). We went around a curve and the real climbing began. It was tough, probably close to Bluegrass. On the way up, a guy in the group helpfully said that if I can do Bluegrass I can do anything. While I appreciate that kind of encouragement, I'm not totally sure that's true. ;) After that hill, it leveled out for a bit, and up another steep hill we went.

We turned right, and I suddenly saw that we weren't on Jester afterall (darn, I really wanted to be able to say I climbed Jester). After riding on relatively flat ground, the rain started POURING. Eventually, we had to stop under a tree. My sunglasses lost their protective barrier after a bit, and I couldn't see anything. The rain was coming down hard enough to send plastic recycle bins floating down the road. Yikes... We turned around then, thinking we'd stay close to home just in case. Riding back down Lakewood, I was thinking to myself, "Holy crap! I just climbed this?!" It was steep enough to almost make me feel like I was going to go over the handlebars, haha. Anyway, the rain let up at about that point, and of course, there was talk of going out further. I considered bailing at that point because I was already tired, and said, "I don't think my legs can take it." A guy in the group said, "Aw, you won't know until you do it." Haha. Damn, he had a point. So on I went!

We turned off the road, and climbed up another long, steep hill (Mountain Ridge Dr maybe?). Some of you won't have a clue what these roads are, but some will. Anyway, after huffing and puffing up that hill, we turn off and descend through some crazy hills. I eventually let go of my fear, partially, and stopped using the brakes so much. We were going up and down some crazy damn hills. And what goes down must come back up, right? Yeah... so after descending all these roads, we get to some other road, and I heard more talk of climbing more roads. Ugh. I was running out of water, getting somewhat dizzy, and I wasn't sure I could take anymore. They threw out the words "Mt. Bonnell" and I cringed inwardly, but said, "I'll try" with a smile on my face. At this point, I had about 15 miles or so. Nearly all hills. On the other Thursday night ride that I (used to) do with Michael, I only do 15 miles, though only because he lets me cut it short.

SO. Up Mt. Bonnell we went. I had driven this with Michael a couple times before, and honestly, it looked pretty damn intimidating in the car. Imagine what it looked like on a bike. There's one decent climb at the beginning, and it levels out for a bit, then has a fairly big hill up to the top. I believe it was on the first climb that my left calf suddenly squeezed with the beginning of a cramp. Perfect, and right in the middle of a tough climb. I eased up on the pedal, and took it easy on that leg until I got to the top. Once at the top (WOOHOO!!!!!), I got off the bike, where everybody was regrouped, and BOTH calves started cramping. This was not good. Plus, I was completely out of water. Another rider was kind enough to give me a half a bottle of his water, as he had two bottles (silly me...). I had no choice but to go on, and we were still a good 12 miles or so from home, with a few more climbs! I probably should have stopped for Gatorade, but I didn't want to be the little weakling that could--plus, I wasn't full-blown cramping.

For the next 5-7 miles or so, it was relatively flat, but my calves were itching to cramp the entire way. We went up a few more hills, though nothing like Lakewood or Mt. Bonnell, and were finally home.

I ended up with just a little under 30 miles in 2:24, which averages out to 12.4 MPH. And that's including stops (I haven't learned how to program my stupid computer to stop calculating when the bike is stopped). With those hills, I'm pretty damn proud of myself. Hell, I'm proud of making it up all those hills, period.

April's pretty euphoric right now. :D