Last night when I got home I felt pretty good. Riding outside (even in 30 degrees or less) feels so much different than riding on a trainer. I usually make the ride to/from work in about 70 minutes total but yesterday it took me 80 minutes. There are so many things that make the ride more interesting (and dangerous) outside. You have, wind, hills, and perhaps some cantankerous drivers. It was so nice to get out yesterday. I can't wait for the weather to turn so I can get out on a more consistent basis. I at least got home before dark yesterday so Spring can't be that far away! :)

I've been reading some blogs from people who have done the Wildflower long course and it kinda scares the cr@p out of me. :) I looked at the portion of the bike ride that's affectionately termed "the nasty". When I first looked at it it said it was a 6% grade over about 2.5 miles. No big deal. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a problem if I was in the same condition as last year when I did Sea Gull. But then I looked further and compared it to a ride that I might be familiar with. Here's what I came up with:

Rockside:

Granger:

"The Nasty":

Rockside was the hill I used for my hill ride in training for Sea Gull. I rode that hill many times. It's fun to go down and even more fun to come back up. Granger hill is the first hill I attempted on Kadence and thought my lungs were going to pop by the time I got to the top. I've only been up it once. I see the challenge of this ride as not only the grade of the hill(s) but this falls at about mile 46 out of 56 so it's going to be a real challenge. I have a feeling that I'm going to need to spend a lot of time on Rockside and Granger as well as my trainer in order to get ready for Wildflower. Gonna go on a group swim tonight. I already feel better about swimming. Just have to make sure to eat before I go!