Hammer time!

After taking the weekend off from riding I hit the bike yesterday with renewed energy. I got home and hammered up to Gas Works for the Monday night ride. Unfortunately I realized on the way up that I was way too energetic for a recovery ride and only two other girls showed up. It's a little disappointing that more racers don't come out for the ride. I decided to head back home and meet Marcus along the way.

We ended up doing the South Lake loop clock-wise. I surprised myself last night by keeping up with Marcus with little difficulty and even catching him across I-90. At one point he said, "You're kicking my ass." I love it! We stopped over at Exit 7 to check out the hill that Marcus has been talking up. I wasn't quite ready for it and nearly dropped my chain getting into my climbing gear. It only took me about 100 feet to realize there was no way I was climbing to the top. The thing about clipless pedals and hills is that you have to know your limit. If you realize halfway up you don't have the legs you usually have difficulty unclipping in time and end up falling over, so if you go, you're committed. Marcus made it halfway up and then came back down flaunting his superior climbing abilities. Uh-huh.

I started dying coming back down Rainier towards home -- the headwind was challenging. Marcus pulled most of the way and then when we got home he decided we needed to race each other with some hill sprints in front of the house. Three times we raced up the hill and each time I really wasn't that far behind him. One of these days I'll get him. Of course, he still claims he's not going all out, but he's a guy so of course he'll say that.