New climbing keyword

Wednesday, I went on a long lunch ride. My coach wanted me to do some AT (Anaerobic Threshold - in layman's terms: HR is high and it hurts!) efforts. 1x10 and 1x20 minutes. I figured I'd do the 1x10 on Jefferson, since it's pretty easy to get my HR up to 170 bpm climbing, but there was some construction. By the time I got going, I got 9 minutes in, before it turned downhill and my HR went back down. Fine.

So I ride out to Woodside, trying to hit the bathroom at Tripp and Kings. Foiled! It was closed. Augh. So I headed over to Old La Honda. Knowing, that worst case, I could use the bathroom at the intersection of Skyline and 84. I really wanted to go BEFORE I climbing OLH, but that's the way it goes.

Felt like crap climbing Jefferson, so was a bit nervous about OLH. It's way longer, way harder, and I'd just done it last Saturday. Got a less than stellar time, but it was raining, sloppy and I was on my heavy, rain bike. Honestly, all I wanted to do was get a better time than Saturday. I was on my climbing machine (Orbea), so I felt confident that I could beat the time. It took awhile to get my HR up there, but once it was at 170, it stayed put. I kept my speed around 7 mph, and kept at it. Around the half-way mark, I checked my time. Damn! I was making some serious time! I decided to just keep at it, and keep going till I hit the top, or blew up. If I blew, I could ride slowly to the top, so no harm, no foul. I'd have gotten my 20 min AT effort in, so that'd be good. I was even doing so well that I'd forgotten to use my climbing "keyword", MAGNIFICENT! Usually that keeps my mind off of the pain, and makes me laugh.

Anyone who climbs this hill knows this spot. The spot where the road narrows, because there's a huge tree growing to the right of the road. Probably the left too, but all I know is the road becomes one lane. It's absolutely breathtaking. Of course, my HR was so high, that I was already breathless, but I digress. As I'm approaching the "trees", I hear a car approaching behind me. Because I'm nice, I sped up and got over to the right as quickly as possible, all the while praying said car would wait till I had more room. Since they did, I waved to them, thanking them. They passed me and gunned the engine. Okay, that was weird, but whatever. After they were a "safe" distance away, the female passenger yells "BITCH!". WTF? Dude, I was THANKING you! I hold up my right hand like, "What's your problem?" and they slam on the brakes. "Cool, I can go tell them how fricking stupid they are, since I was thanking them." Trust me, if I was being a bitch, they'd have known it. As I get closer, they change their mind and speed off. Chickenshits.

I was pretty mad, and I kept thinking, "Dang, what's wrong with them? Stupid morons", but then I decide to just turn that anger into energy. I'm really good at that. I used my anger to keep turning the pedals over and driving uphill. Near the top, I realized that I was going to do really well, so when the road got all bumpy and un-even (the end), I was up out of the saddle, driving to the finish. When I hit the stop sign, I stopped the computer.

I'd just clocked my best time on Old La Honda. EVER. And it was the last day of January. I rode to a time 3.5 minutes FASTER than I'd done only 4 days earlier. Wait till June... I might actually achieve my time goal for OLH this season!!! Only 1.5 more minutes to shave off!

Gosh, if they'd called me the C word, I might have gotten a sub 20-minute climb! Too bad I didn't see them at the top, otherwise I'd have arranged to be in their way again next time I climbed it!

Oh yeah. My new keyword for climbing? BITCH! It was easy to explain "MAGNIFICENT" when someone heard me say it aloud. This one's gonna be a bit harder to explain...

Cheerio!