"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

This is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt which kind of sums up how I feel about the Death Ride. I might need to tattoo it on my wrist or something. :)

Today I rode up Mt. Hamilton with Mel & Amy. I was surprised to find I was feeling pretty good for the most part, and I kept it in the middle ring for longer than I think I ever had before (granted, I have a touring triple so my middle ring is only a 36, but still). Not that I was going any faster than normal -- Mel and Amy left me in a cloud of dust, as usual -- but I didn't seem to tire out as quickly as I normally would. Nice!

Ah, and then I reached the "5 miles to the observatory" sign. That's where the road kicks up a little bit more and there are a lot of switchbacks. And the observatory looks so close it seems you can reach out & touch it. Especially today, it was gloriously clear out. And that's where I always seem to peter out. I'm sure a big part of it is psychological, but even if so, my body wastes no time in joining in. Today was no exception, it didn't take long at all for my legs & back to start complaining loudly, and switching down to my small ring didn't really help. But I managed to slog it out the remaining few miles, although I did need to stop & rest a lot.

I eventually made it, but I couldn't help but think when I reached the observatory that I'd have to complete a climb sort of like this one four more times to finish the Death Ride. And in considerably less time. Ack.

Hopefully I'll look back at this five months from now and marvel at how far I progressed over that time. Still, Sarah & Michael (my Death Ride coaches) have their work cut out for them. :D