The Great Figure Eight!

Wind, rain, the lack of bike lanes, and of course, HILLS!!!!!

"Rockies!!!" Every time the summit of a hill would near, les or I would belt this to remind ourselves what we're working for. The word has become our motivator in that every time we battle a hill and think of how hard it may be, it is only making us stronger for the great Rockies of Colorado.

The "Great Figure Eight" begins with the hill on Harbor that goes over toward Rowland Heights. Les and I made a left on Colima and cruised our way up over the Colima hill that took us into Whittier. From there we took a right onto Whittier Blvd. We then headed up through uptown Whittier for a quick water stop and then took a right on the hilly Turnbull Canyon Road. This was a two-lane back road with plenty of hills and turns, but as soon as we reached the top we were blessed with an amazing ride down the other side. We ended up catching up to a work truck, who eventually let us pass, but the majority of it was les and I taking turns and dangerously awesome speeds! It's preceding incline was well worth it! We then took a left onto Colima again but made the next right onto Hacienda Rd, our next hill battle. After conquering this giant we were shot out onto Whittier blvd again where we took a left. As les and I rode and mused about our recent "figure 8" victory the thought of any more hill riding was almost completely out of the question. But then Les dropped the bomb on me.

"I think I'll just go up the Idaho hill because it's more direct to my house." I hesitated. Then I said, "Alright, I'll go too!" We'd done at least 5 hard hills already, what would one more be? We fought the steep Idaho humongo and then parted ways at the top.

All in all we were left feeling very motivated. This was an important ride for us, because if we could battle the great hills of North OC for a few hours and ride away feeling good while still this far out from our trip, then surely the Rockies will be a pushover...right???!!!

Well, we'll see about that anyway. It was a great mental-toughness ride to say the least.

Thanks for reading!