Ever since I started riding around Pasadena on a 2,500 plus dollar bike (there's motivation for you: You spent how much??!! You better ride it!), one of my goals has been to climb the Lida hill in my big chain ring. The Lida climb is a good measure for fitness, since it is almost exactly a mile long, and averages a 5.7% grade. A good time for the climb is anything below 10 minutes; pro cyclists can do it in under 4 minutes. Since my bike's drive system is a double chain ring, with 9 gears in the back, I have 18 "speeds" to handle the road. The smaller ring is usually used for climbing, and the big ring is used for flats and sprinting. Since I'm a small guy, I concentrated on climbing, but every few months, you need to sacrifice climbing speed and form to build muscle. The big ring is the best way to do that, which I've been concentrating on for a month. Legs got bigger, cruising speed increased, as well as the specific cruising gear, so now it's time to get the climbing muscles built up. So, I tried the big ring up Lida today, and 8 minutes later, my small goal was no longer a goal, but an achievement. Yay me! Now I get to do that for two weeks. Damn you, expensive bike!
Yay Joe!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, this post makes me glad that I not only don't have an expensive bike, but the bike I do have has two flat tires. (I'm exhausted just reading your post!)
Ottava!
ReplyDeleteHeh, if you think that's tiring, I should let you know that I had already climbed 500 feet on a two mile incline, but it was steeper because there are two downhill portions on the way up the mountain. Yeah, I did that in the big ring as well. Double yay! And double ouch...