Emigration Canyon

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but my workouts got all screwed up today, so I did my Friday workout on Saturday and did my Saturday workout today. BJ gave me my workout of riding my bike up Emigration Canyon today.



I was SUPER nervous for this ride. I knew where it was, but I just didn't know what to expect. I've drove the canyon before and have been very intimidated by it.

I was expecting the ride to be alot like riding up City Creek Canyon. It wasn't. It was TOTALLY different.

First off, I got to use my CO2 cartridge today. I forgot to check my tires at home before I drove up to the base of the canyon (I parked at the zoo). So, I got my bike down off my car got it all set up and felt my tire and it was low. It wasn't too terribly low, but it would've made the ride harder. So...thankfully I have my little pack now (learned about not having this the hard way) that I keep a spare tube, a little pump, a CO2 cartridge and tire irons. I pulled out my pump and filled up my tire and off I went.

I started out having a head wind that made the ride seem a little difficult, but the farther I got up the canyon, the wind went away.

As I'm starting my climb up the canyon I figure out that someone has taken a can of spray paint and has painted little inspirational messages on the ground. The first one I came upon said "It was a great choice to ride today." I saw one that said "Keep pushing! GO!!!" There was another one where they'd list a bunch of names like "So&So is stoked". A few yards later you'd see another "So&So is stoked" and it would go on until it said "So&So is stoked for you!". I loved it! It made the ride more fun.

I didn't know how much farther I had to go. I didn't know how many miles up the canyon it was to the top. The only thing I knew was my boss told me that it should only take me as long to climb Emigration Canyon as it does for me to climb City Creek Canyon.

All of a sudden I was at the top of the canyon. I was SO surprised. It's 8 miles up the canyon. I didn't have to shift down in to my easiest gear until about 5 miles in to the ride. I was pretty surprised. (Pardon my stupid helmet. I want/need a new one.)



Then it was time to head back down the canyon. It took me a little less than 1 hour to climb the canyon and it took me 25 minutes to get down the canyon. I was able to pedal a little down the canyon, but most of it was just coasting.

I know this might sound silly, but I was kind of proud of myself. I caught myself going 31 mph down the canyon and I didn't slow down. Usually once I hit about 25 mph the speed scares me and I start to slow down, but it was fun going 31 mph.

After I got home and got everything taken care of & off to work I decided to research and see why this ride was easier than City Creek. Well, as far as mileage goes, Emigration is a longer ride, but it's not nearly as steep as City Creek. Emigration you do gain more altitude, but it's not so steep. I believe City Creek is at it's steepest point is a 9.4% grade and Emigration is no more than a 6% grade. I was kind of disappointed that the ride wasn't as hard as I expected. But my brother pointed out a couple of different factors. He was saying that with Emigration, you have less oxygen 'cause you're higher up and a longer ride at a consistant incline, so those all add up. That made me feel a little better.

If I would've had more time, once I got to the bottom of the canyon I would've turned around and climbed the canyon again, but I had to get to work. :(

Next time I ride the canyon, I'm gonna park down a couple of blocks at a library or I'm going to park at the near by VA hospital and get a longer ride in with a couple of more hills.

I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!

Hills Are My Nemesis

Sunday, BJ sent me my workouts and I looked at what today's workout was and I just about died! It said:

warm up 20 min
3 x 15 min climbs up any road you
choose in bountiful. When 15 is up
then turn around descend and start
over
cool down

I've never been good at climbing hills on my bike. I've got better than I used to be, but I'm not as good as I'd like to be.

So...I chose to ride my bike up 4th North in Bountiful. It's one of the steepest hills in the city. It goes from as far West to as far East as the city goes. 4th North leads you up to the LDS Temple on the hill. If you ever have to drive this hill in the winter time, you dread it because you just slide everywhere.

So, I did a 20 minute warm up and then looked at my watch and headed up 4th North. I got about 1/2 way up 4th North to a street calle Davis Blvd and that's where I had to stop. I was out of breath, I felt like I could barf, I felt weak, I was thirsty, my heart was beating out of my chest, I basically felt like I was going to fall over and die.

So, I pulled off on Davis Blvd, looked at my watch, and I'd only been climbing this hill for 7 1/2 minutes. I was only 1/2 way done. Well, tough noogies. The hill only gets steeper the further East of Davis Blvd you go, I just knew I physically couldn't go further. As I was catching my breath, I thought there was NO way I was going to be able to climb this hill 2 more times. I would have a freaking heart attack!

I'm finally feeling stable, so I decide to decend down 4th North. As I'm decending down 4th North, it's like your mind totally forgets what you just did because I remember thinking to myself, I can do this again! No big deal! If I can do it once, I can do it again!

So, I got back down to the bottom of 4th North and turned around and headed back up the hill! Oh dear Lord, what have I gotten myself in to? I made it back up to Davis Blvd again and felt like I was going to die. I felt like I was going to chuck my guts up once I stopped.

But once again, as I was decending down 4th North, I thought I've done this twice I'm sure I can do it one more time. Well, this time I was wrong. I made it up to 700 East (about 1/3 of the way up the hill) and I came SO close to upchucking that I decided to call it quits.

I turned my bike around & headed back home. I kind of feel bad that I didn't make it up the hill a third time. I feel like I kind of wussed out, but I honestly think if I would've climbed all the way up to Davis Blvd, I would've puked my guts up once I got up there.

Will hills EVER get any easier? I sure hope so.

City Creek Canyon Ride

This last Wednesday, after work, my boss & I decided to ride our bikes up to the top of City Creek Canyon. From where we parked to the top it was 7.1 miles.

I've ran up part of City Creek Canyon before, and I've been riding hills now for a little while, but I wasn't prepared for how hard this ride was.

First off, I made the mistake of having a Diet Dr. Pepper earlier that morning. I don't drink carbonation during the week, but I didn't have to swim that morning and I had a killer headache. I figured if I drank enough water after having the Diet Dr. Pepper, I'd be fine.

Well, 1 mile in to the ride I could tell that I'd had carbonation that morning. I was starting to huff and puff, and the worst of the ride was yet to come.



My boss is a much better biker than I am and made it up to the top about 5 minutes before I made it up there.

But, I only had to stop once to catch my breath and it was about 1/2 mile from the top. I had just climbed a HUGE hill and was huffing and puffing and looked ahead and there was another huge hill, so I pulled over and stopped for a second; however, I do have to say...I wasn't the slowest biker riding the canyon, I passed two people riding up the canyon.

Of course, coming down the canyon was a piece of cake! It was all downhill. I loved it! My arms and neck got a little tired from hunching over and braking so much, but it was awesome! I loved it!

I can't wait to ride the canyon again. I think I'm going to ride the canyon once a week and then ride my bike home. :) If anybody ever wants to join me on the ride, you're more than welcome.

Biking Uphill

This might sound stupid, but I'm kind of proud of myself...

Yes, I've been cycling and working out for over 1 year now, but I've always had a hard time with riding my bike up a hill. It just tires me out. Well, tonight I feel like I made great strides!

When I ride my bike, I always ride a certain route and on the route there are 2 hills. They don't look like big hills, but when you're riding your bike up them, they're pretty rough. I'm not too good at riding my bike while standing up because I don't feel like I have that much control over the bike, but tonight, I was able to climb 1 1/2 of the hills standing up on the bike the whole time!

Now, I realize this sounds stupid, but my arms and legs have always gotten tired about 1/2 way up the hill before tonight.

Plus, I rode my bike 21 miles tonight and that has usually taken me close to around 2 hours to do, but tonight, it only took me about 1 1/2 hours. Yay!