Epic Hills

Yesterday was an eventful day. We finally found time to get the bikes together, so we took them for a short spin to make sure the kinks were all worked out. Of course, while putting together bikes, the gears get shifted a few times (note the foreshadowing here folks). It would make sense then, that one should check what gear the bike is in before hopping on. Not I. Nope. I just hopped on, clipped in and realized very quickly that I was in a very low gear which wasn't a good thing seeing as how the driveway is significantly uphill. The outcome: Hillary and her bike fell over. It wasn't a pretty sight. Fortunately, I only bent the hood and bruised the palm of my hand. So after straightening the hood out and picking up the pieces of my slightly shattered pride...I shifted...and we started off.

The route we took was beautiful. There are so many flowers and trees in bloom...just gorgeous. I also realized just how hilly White Rock really is (although, what was I expecting? It's a seaside community on the side of a large bluff). Nearing the end of the ride, we stopped, and Warren asked if I was "ready for Buena Vista Ave.". "Sure", I said, thinking he meaning going up from the east end of the street which is quite a long uphill section, but only moderately steep. Warren then pointed to the street where he intended us to go up. I quickly realized that this monstrosity that lay before me was NOT the part of Buena Vista Ave. that I had visualized. In fact, it's one of the steepest hills in town. It starts out at about 10% and about halfway up it becomes 16%. We clipped in and set off.

Halfway up, just before the steepest part, panic overcame me. Warren had both forgotten how terrified of heights I am and I thought I could overcome it. I realized I couldn't as the panic set in. We stopped. Pride shattered again, we turned around, and after about a 1/2 block walk to a less steep section, I was able to get back on the bike to finish rolling down the hill. We ended up cruising along the oceanside road for a bit and eventually found a much wider, tamer hill to ascend to return home.

It turns out Warren's plan had been for us to go up this hill, get to the top, then tell me that we'll never have to do something this steep on our whole way across. The poor guy had intended the hill to be a confidence booster for me. Anyways, it was quite the ride.

This morning, we're heading out to test run the first part of our real ride. We have a nasty hill at about the 8km mark that we drove up the other day while scouting it out. Given that my usual toe-tingling at the thought of steep hills has now become foot-burning at the thought of steep hills...we thought we might try it once before really having to do it. Wish us luck!!