Today I rode around Hagg Lake (in Scoggins Valley Park), west of Hillsboro. This was my first ride with any appreciable hills in a long time. My basic goal was to not stop on the side of the road and break down in tears. I succeeded in that much. But sheesh, I was sucking wind really hard on some of those hills. My tour guide and traveling companion was a real sport about accommodating my feeble pace, but she did pick a couple of moments to yank my chain in a sadistic fashion.
At one point I was climbing a hill, giving it my all, panting and grunting. I somehow managed to catch my partner by surprise and slip past her on the left. As I inched forward, she called out in a sing-song voice unencumbered by such trivial details as gasping for oxygen, “I’m still on my middle chain ring!” Eeeevil.
On another long slow climb, she confessed as how she had developed a pattern of waiting until I just caught up with her, then she’d change gears and pull away again. Over and over and over… Rhymes with “fig plucker”.
Still, I completed the loop and the idea of doing the ride again in a couple of weeks doesn’t make me tremble in fear. I can only get better. We were also riding on a really bright sunny day, in the very heat of the day. A milder day could only help. As it is, I’m waiting to see if I picked up a sunburn anywhere.
All told, 11.5 miles. Doesn’t sound that far, but c’mon, hills!
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