Princess of the Hills....

Well, in all honesty today started out as a rather crappy day. Nothing to do with training, just one of those days. Thankfully though it ended on a high note!

Things started to get much better as soon as I got to Les's. The sun was shinin', the wind was gustin' and we were going to do hills. As soon as I got on the bike I felt TONS better. We did a short warm up then headed off to battle the first climb - Glen Eagles Hill.

As always the goal was high cadence. I knew it was going to be a great climb as Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life' was filling my ears....(yes Mum, I was wearing my headphones, but only one earpiece works so I can hear the cars!) Anyways, back to the story. I started out around 70ish, and held it up the first stretch of hill. I picked it up on the recovery portion of the hill. Now I'm noticing the wind - it's gusting and pushing my bike around a bit. No worries, it's just Mother Nature testing me! I held mid 70's for the second to last climb. The last climb is quite steep but it's short. I was able to hold 85 rpm and even got close to 90 rpm! Holy schnikeys - I'd never done that before. How the heck did that happen?! I have no idea what my heart rate was because my monitor was out getting fixed. I did know that I had no moisture in my mouth from puffing so much, haha.

A quick trip down the hill (the really fun part - WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!) and I was ready for another climb. This time it was Cochrane Hill I was going to conqueur. My cadence wasn't as high but I managed to hold 65 rpm and even creep into the low 70's for a short time. The best thing is when I got to the top I had the strength to pick up my cadence and speed once over the hill. Excellent!!

Now I'm stoked. I've done well so far and want to really kick butt on my third, and last climb -back up Glen Eagles. It started out slow, but the Ramones are filling my ears and giving me a good beat to pedal to...awesome....I'm just holding 65 rpm though....not fast enough...I am now trying to channel Natasha Badmann and Lisa Bentley. Can they climb? I have no idea, but they kick ass and I think they are awesome. So Natasha and Lisa it is. I get to the second to last hill....okay Suse...it's time to crank it up! I look at my cadence meter and it's reading 85 rpm. Suhweet. That's the way, keep going! The last hill is coming up...I want to hold AT LEAST 85. Time to get tough! I'm now thinking, "no pain, no gain!" My heart is beating through my chest and I have no moisture left in my mouth. Here we go...the last hill! I look down, my cadence is 101 rpm. Holy shite! KEEP PEDALING! 100 rpm, 101 rpm, 100rpm - I'm doing it! My Natasha smile has turned to Lisa's grimace...I'm still holding 100 rpm - almost there....YES!!! I DID IT! Snoopy Happy Dance Time!!!!

I have NEVER done that before. Last year it was all I could do to hold 55 rpm all the way up. HOOYAH!! I can't breathe but I held 100 rpm!!! That's it, I want the red polka dot shirt! (whoops, sorry Mike - JERSEY! haha). I AM PRINCESS OF THE HILLS!!! HEAR ME ROAR!!!

What a great way to end the day. I'm still giddy about it!