Character

My crew and I are involved in a huge project - videotaping 37 speeches over the course of two and a half days.  Most deal with character, or motivation, or some combination of the two.  We've had Brian Billick, Tommy LaSorda, and an Army Aviator who's been on active duty for 41 years, CW5 Lance McIlheney.  Great speakers, great topics.  I find myself thinking, as I listen to these really important topics, "When can I ride"?

Craigslist sucks.  I'm selling two bikes to finance the new Rig.  So far, one call, and an email from a guy who promises to send a check when I send him my address AND my telephone number. 

I was born, but not yesterday...

The wifey may be going to home-zero this weekend to comfort an old friend (who's feeling down... wait, isn't that an Eagles song?).  May be able to get a long climb in this week if that happens.

HillZilla, pt. Deux...

I had to ride it.  It was slopy, snowy, frozen and fast.  Riding Hillzilla one way is tough.  Clockwise or counter, there is no easy way to go.  Doing an out-and-back on Hillzilla?  Yikes.  It's only 8 miles.  Not much in the grand scheme of things.  Eight miles on a 'normal' trail takes me about an hour.  It takes an hour to do an out-and-back on Hillzilla.  But that's not counting stopping to stuff my lung back down my throat every 50 feet.  But I made it, in 1 hour, 30 minutes. 

Kokopelli is laughing right now.

We shall see, Mr. Pelli.  We shall see.

Hillzilla

So I got my new most favorite bike - a Gary Fisher Rig.  Sweet ride, one gear.  Erik says "You better start hitting Hillzilla..."  Uggh.  He's right, but Hillzilla hurts.  18 minutes is my record up the the north side, from the front door of work to the beautiful views at the top.  Only hacking up 1 lung is the best I can manage coming up the south side.  The north side is currently a sloppy, frozen mess.  I can make it up, but the effort takes its toll.  Rolling down the south side is a blast - probably the best part of the whole out-and-back ride.  Turning around at the (currently frozen) creek begins the torture-fest.  The previously screaming descent becomes a screamer of a climb.  It's hard to catch any kind of rhythm. Some parts are relatively flat, but quickly turn back up.  Mostly, though, it just goes up.  And up.  The final climb, after the last switchback, sucks.  It sucks your soul, your legs and, did I say soul?  When you finally reach the top, you don't look back.  You just go down again. It's sloppy, frozen and fast. 

I've got to start that climb.  Soon.