Two Wheel Blogs

Route: Whitesides Hill workout (6 climbs)
Time: 1:30
Miles: 25.7
Pace: 17.0

Tonight, I had two goals: I wanted to ride for 90 minutes, and I wanted to climb everything is sight. "Don't turn your back on a hill," that was my motto. I wanted to do six climbs on Whitesdies, I wanted to do them seated, and I wanted to keep my climbing speed in double digits.

I got started early, heading out to the SIU-E campus at 5:30 p.m. I could not get my chain to move to the big chain ring. "Dang," I exclaimed, "Time to take the bike to The Cyclery."

On my way out, I warmed up by climbing the Union Street hill (short) and the Highway 157 hill (a longer one). Once at Whitesides, I had the hill mostly to myself, and that suited me just fine. After my third climb, I was passed on the downhill by a couple of Metro Tri Club riders, but I took them back on the flat stretch leading to the base of Whitesides.

Just as I was starting my last climb, the fast pack passed me. I considered jumping on the back of the pace line and trying to climb with them -- briefly. They were going up at about 15 mph. I stood in the pedals to chase them and couldn't muster more than 11 mph. So I sat back down and finished my last climb. Once back in my neighborhood, I finished the night by climbing the M Street hill (long) and the Locust Street hill (short, but steep).