No, I can't do it

"I just can't do any more hills--no, I can't believe I'm seeing more hills." That was the thought running through my mind as we crested another set of hills. The hills seem to have this way of steeply going to a crest that appears to be the top of the hill and you've huffed and puffed your way up and then there is this smaller rise ahead of you and you go over that but then your eyes can't believe what you see because stretching out before and behind you is just more and more undulating rolls of hills. It's just like a ribbon of roller coasters in either direction.

Oh well, there's just nothing to do about it but keep going. You feel so totally awesome as the wind whistles past your ears on the way down and you try not to think about the climbing that awaits once you hit the bottom of the hill. As soon as you begin to feel the pull of gravity again you start to downshift. All the riders that were spread out sailing down the hill are now bunched up slowly grinding their way up and the sounds in your ears are huffs and puffs and grinding of bike gears. You just keep on pedaling and then you before you know it you have made it up to the top ready to head back down and tackle the next climb.

By the end of a particularly long 20-mile stretch of hills today I was ready for a pie and ice cream break. Sitting in the park in the shade ready to dig into my homebaked strawberry rhubarb pie al a mode was one of the highlights of the day.


It was a hot day today, too, but that made the shade breaks that much more welcome. And nothing beat finding the campground here in Carroll knowing that I had completed the challenge of all those hills. The word is that the next few days of the ride are much less hilly. And now that the hills are over my mind has forgotten all about how hard it seemed at the time. I feel ready for anything.