Conquered those Hills

My past week of steak, pasta, & wine (company conference) calls for a much needed bike ride!  What better day to burn everything off than a sunny & gorgeous Canada Day!!!  Happy Birthday Canada! 😀

Today’s route has been a fear of mine since last year.  The destination is Belfountain, Ontario in the Hills of Headwaters.  Distance is not the concern; it’s the endless hills that made me said NO last summer!  With MS Bike Tour fast approaching in August, conquering this route would be the perfect kick start for my training.  The one big motivation today was the wonderful “reward” waiting on the other side! (keep reading) 😀

My bro & I met up at 9:30am.  It was a rough start – my cyclocomputer wasn’t working!!  AHH! 😮  We had to pause a bit for some road-side repairs.  Thank goodness it worked in the end.  I would be so lost without it!

I was low on energy today – must be those steaks!!  I was feeling fatigue after 10km!!  Imagine that! 😯  Here comes the hills.  This picture looks back at the monstrous hill (~20km into the ride) that I just climbed.  It was quite ugly – the road was under construction, leaving only 1 lane.  Cars behind me had no lanes to pass!  I felt so pressured to go faster.  HELP! I was already on my lowest gear!!

Hard to see, but notice the trees way in the background? The escarpment goes all the way up there!

I could see doomsday in the picture below.  There was a downhill immediately ahead, followed by continuous uphills for approx 9 km until I reached my destination.  I took a water break to brace myself.

Again, hard to see. But the white strip in the background is actually the uphill ahead!

Whoohoo, I made it!  The reward…..THE SHED!!!!  It’s a coffee bar & is opened on Canada Day!  Yes, I did all this for a good cup of Joe. 😀 This place is not just a regular old coffee shop; its interior decor follows a cycling/bike theme.  They even sold bike jerseys!

I ordered a regular skim Latte; it came in a big bowl!  Oh my gosh, just look at the latte art! (looks destroyed since I took a few sips! :P)  I also had a sample of a chocolate-brownie-looking dessert!!  I’m in heaven! 😛

There’s nothing better than lounging under the sun with a good latte.

This latte is not just a pretty face, it also tastes delicious!!  This will NOT be my last time here.  This is by far the BEST latte I’ve ever tasted.

Time to go home!  The initial 10km was the BEST ride I’ve had in a while!  Zooming down the hills at ~40-50km/hr, I couldn’t help but let out several squeals of excitement!!  😛  There exists a life lesson –  “No one succeeds without perseverance.  Hard work and perseverance are the price of success.”  Today mirrors this lesson.  Conquering the uphills this morning rewarded me with a bowl of latte & many downhills on my way home!!  😀  There was a fellow cyclist we met along the way who happened to live near us.  She cycled at the same speed at my brother….I could barely catch up with them!  😳

After eating a few bugs that flew in my mouth, getting hit by a fly that flew in my face, passing by several disgusting roadkill, riding over some potholes……..I DID IT!  The entire trip was 76.96km for 3hr19min.  Average speed at 23.1km/hr (those darn hills); max speed at 58.7km/hr.  Darn, I nearly made it to 60km/hr.

Ouch, I have so much lactic acid in my thighs!! 😐 I need to work on my climbing & speed.  I am now more than motivated to endure my introductory 2-week unlimited Spin class at CYKL starting this coming Tuesday.  I will catch up to my brother one day!!