Climb Every Mountain

When I moved from Chicago to Baltimore I was confronted with a major topographical challenge: hills. I spent the first 18 months of my cycling career doing laps along the flat path that parallels Lake Michigan. I only needed two gears, one for the headwind and one for the tailwind. Baltimore, on the other hand, offered terrain which required every gear on my bike. Rides ranged from slightly hilly to very hilly with steep, quad busting grades. The hills were generally short; it was the sheer number on every ride that presented the challenge. I was grossly unprepared for this type of riding, but I ardently chased my new friends up the hills hoping that one day I could ride the hills as fast as they did. It took me many years and a Power Tap to realize that the Kamikaze style of climbing, while ego boosting, is not the most efficient method to approach hills, especially when there is a run off the bike.