At the beginning of the year I thought it might be ‘fun’ to deliberately choose more rides with more hills…to see what I can do when I have a bit more time for training. Why not. I am lucky to be riding so I may as well challenge myself, and I have a good bike with the right gears for climbing. I want to increase my mileage this year as well, but I want to put some energy into hills. This is not easy…I am slow in general but even slower on hills. Gravity is not my friend. But I’m riding because I love riding, and improving my climbing form even a little could buy me a little ease on brevets and/or permanents, so there is every reason to give it a go. Fortunately, it’s difficult to ride in Pennsylvania without climbing hills…so there is lots of opportunity for using the low gears on my bike.
I’ve completed the hilly NJ 300 brevet several times, but never with more than 20 minutes to spare, and one year Chris and I finished with fewer than 5 minutes to spare. Those rides also involved me staying on my bike almost the entire time: no sit-down meals, no leisurely breaks at controls, and eating while riding. Thinking back to the older versions of hilly NJ 600s as well that took in the Catskills and Harriman State Park, I successfully completed all but one of those attempts, but again, that was made possible by taking brief overnight breaks and keeping control stops short…all business, no time for chatting with the locals, having a relaxed meal, or napping in the shade.
Most (in)famously, I completed BMB with its more than 35,000 feet of climbing with just 30 minutes to spare and only two hours sleep in four days.
Nearly 18 years have passed by since BMB. I have been lucky to be a randonneur, albeit a slow one, all this time. I have nothing to lose, of course taking reasonable precautions and paying attention to how my body is responds, in trying to bring a little more ease and fun into rides.
We’ll see how it goes. If nothing else, I’ll see more of the beautiful wooded areas in Berks County, PA.
More later this year.
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