Saturday, July 26, 2008 [0M]

~24 mile bike ride. I was content with keeping this week at 50 miles so I opted to do some biking today instead of running. I drove over to Sawyer Camp and headed north on Skyline Blvd. I was considering going all the way to Lake Merced, which would make this about a 30 mile ride but I cut it short after deviating a bit from my planned route. At some point along the way I should have crossed over 280 to continue on Skyline but I made the wrong turn and headed east towards the bay. It didn't take me long to realize that I had gone the wrong way but at that point I was flying down a ridiculously steep hill and didn't want to stop and climb back up. I ended up on El Camino and went north, hoping to find an easier way to get back on Skyline. It didn't seem like that was an option so eventually I decided to suck it up and go up the hill. I might suck at biking but that hill would probably challenge even the most experienced bikers. I was riding with the lowest gear, standing up and working hard but I was barely making any ground. At some point I had to stop and then I had a hard time getting back on the bike. It took me a few tries before I managed to gather enough momentum to keep the bike from rolling backwards and continue the climb. I made it to the top eventually after the brutal climb and continued on Skyline but with my legs dead tired I decided to take an early turn back. On the way back I took advantage of the downhill parts and let my legs recover a bit. With 8 or 9 miles to go some guy passed me and I decided to pick up the pace and go after him. I always thought that I sucked at climbing hills with my bike but surprisingly I was gaining on the uphill parts and losing ground on the flat and downhill stretches. He managed to build a decent gap but stopped after a couple of miles and after I went by I never saw him again. I made my way back through Sawyer camp and kept hammering those last 6 miles, getting back to the car after 1:40. Pretty good ride overall, I definitely feel like I'm starting to get a lot more comfortable on the bike.