So, when it comes to biking, I've learned to never say "I'd never do that" when it comes to a hill....
So, I live in the Oakland hills...well to be more precise, as my ex-boyfriends sister so kindly pointed out...i live on the incline, not the hills. Which means, that to do a bike ride from my house, no matter which way i go, there is a serious hill.
So around 4th of july last year, we were driving around looking for a good spot to watch the show. And during this drive, I remember saying, OMG it takes 5 minutes to drive up this hill, I would never ride this on a bike.
Well, as fate would have it. I did. I'm training for a triathlon right now, and I have a friend who is a serious rider. So he agreed to train with me as long as i agreed not to complain to much about the rides he picked. So, for our first ride, he tricked me! He came over to my house and i thought we were going to drive somewhere flat. Nope, for the next 45 minutes I was riding uphill. up that hill i said i'd never ride.
So then a few weeks back, my friend and I decide to go to Stinson beach. And the ride there includes a 15 mile mountain. Large hill if you will. And since it was late in the afternoon, there were only a few lone bikers taming the mountain. And i remember again saying....OMG, its taking us 30 minutes just to drive up this hill, i would never bike this!!
uh-huh. You know what's coming.
Fast forward two weeks. Since i didn't learn my lesson the first time, I agree to go on a nice 2 hour **flat** ride. Never trust competition riders when they say they're taking you on an easy ride. Easy is relative.
So we start out on our easy ride, and 6 hours later, we had ridden from SF, across golden gate bridge, thru Marin, up Mt. Tam (16 miles of non-stop redwood surrounded hill hell) and back. If a biker passes out in the forest and no one is around does she make a sound?
Am I glad I did it? Heck ya! Now, not only can I say Mt. Tam has been conquered, I've learned that with biking as in life, when i feel the urge to say I'd never do something because i'm too ~~lazy~~ to do it I'll probably end up being forced to do it in the near future. Lesson learned -- Even with physical things, life is mental. Get your mind in check and, just do it.
