Training Day 2
I think I’ve written before about how I’m afraid of my bike. I spend a lot of time screwing up my courage to go for a ride. Were it not for my riding friends and pre-determined dates and times for rides I just wouldn’t go. In fact, due to lack of same, today was my first ride since September 24 when I rode a whopping 16 miles. Now we could go and blame it on my trip to Peru but I got back from that in mid-October. So now we can blame it on the Nike 1/2 marathon but I that was Oct. 22. There really isn’t anything else to blame it on. Really. It was just fear plain and simple.
But wait, there’s more. Ever since I got my spd pedals I’ve been even more afraid. Not only am I in danger of being hit by a car or attacked by a bear (because you know – those suburban bears are real killers), I might forget to clip out and just fall over. I have, in fact, done that 3 times. Of course it didn’t really hurt but it could, you know – it could really hurt. Add to that the fear of climbing a hill and slowing down until I just fall over and I become apoplectic.
Then there’s the issue of what has happened while I was training for a marathon and traveling to distant places (and YES – I am going to finish that travelogue soon). My friends B and C have been climbing mountains and learning how to draft and generally getting faster, and faster and faster. So in addition to the fear of cars and bears I have to grapple with the fear of B and C hating to ride with me because I’m so damned slow.
Today changed all of that. Today our other biking friend, E, asked if I wanted to go for a ride even though B and C were not available. I didn’t hesitate to say “yes!” lest I never get on my bike again. Then she suggested we try to climb Mt. Diablo to the ranger station. Ow. So that’s get on the bike at all AND climb a big hill. E is kind and forgiving and wanted a riding partner and she had done way more traveling than me in the last couple of months so I knew what we were doing – we were trying to catch up to B and C.
As FDR said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ and so I agreed to that plan. By thee time we met up I was already thinking of good excuses to back out. As we got closer and closer to the base of the mountain and my legs got a little sore (because I did just PR in a 5K yesterday) the excuse-o-meter ran to the red and my mind became a blinding blur of reasons I just couldn’t go on. But I went on.
And here is our ride
We rode 1300 ft up the mountain! There were a million times when I wanted to turn back and didn’t actually make it as far as we had wanted to but we did a lot and I feel cured! I also feel like maybe I CAN train for Wildflower. Maybe I really can.
Now I just need to learn to relax a little coming down. I mean really, who comes down a mountain at less than 20 mph?
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Posted by 21st Century Mom.
Filed under Uncategorized
Posted on Sun, 03 December 2006 at 4:31 pm
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Woot! That is one serious hill profile! WELL DONE!!
03 Dec 06 at 6:55 pm #I am afraid of bikes too. Big scary hills? Me? Never. (I know, never say never.) I definitely would come down the hill at less than 20 mph as well. I am a scaredy cat.Congrats on making it through and overcoming your fears.
03 Dec 06 at 7:55 pm #Good job attacking your fear and that big HILL.
03 Dec 06 at 8:11 pm #I am allergic to hill myself. You rock for conquering them.
03 Dec 06 at 8:50 pm #Way to go!There is nothing like doing what you are afraid of, and getting it done, tobuild confidence
04 Dec 06 at 2:47 am #You definitely are getting way ahead of me on the bike. Good job overcoming your fears, all of which, to me, are valid.
04 Dec 06 at 7:03 am #Challenging hill!!!! Great job. I was afraid of my road bike for a long time. Nothing can compare though to a downhill at 35-40 mph
04 Dec 06 at 7:48 am #A couple of days to remember! Before 9 minutes under the previous record and after that monster hill. As a friend of mine said: “that is not a uphill but a tree to climb”!
04 Dec 06 at 8:37 am #wow, i should go away more often!
04 Dec 06 at 3:38 pm #I HAVE fallen over while biking up a hill with my feet clipped into the pedals because I was going so slow! It didn’t hurt much, but my dignity was lost. Good luck with your biking. I resort to putting my bike on a trainer rather than battle traffic and bears.
04 Dec 06 at 6:56 pm #Good job on overcoming your fear, which I was surprised to read. Thanks for sharing that. I’ve been thinking about buying a road bike when I move to my new home, because it’s too hilly to ride my old mountain bike. I had even been thinking about racing and joining a bike club, but I never thought that I’d be afraid to ride. Maybe I should do some test rides before I plunk down the big bucks.
06 Dec 06 at 7:18 am #