Yesterday I did hill intervals in the Gats for the first time ever. Typically I go up to the gats and just do the loop. Plain and simple. Counter-clockwise loop. In fact, the counter-clockwise is the 'easiest' in some respects: you don't climb Black's hill (which I do believe is the longest/steepest) - you get to descend it; and apparently there may in fact be less climbs - I guess you get to do a few extra sweet descents (my favourite!), rather than climb them all. You see, the gats loop is a steady uphill climb, but it rolls. So it's up and down, up and down, at the same time, it's steadily up and up and up.
What I did this weekend was to go to this one climb that we call Fortune - because it's on Fortune Lake Pkwy and it's the main climb on that road. It's approximately 2.5 km according to rough estimates with my Garmin. And most of it is around 6-7% grade, although there is one point where you get a bit of a break before it tips up for some more climbing (only 3% grade according to my data read here from the ride). Right near the top of the climb it tips up slightly for a few seconds at 9 and 10% - which can be killer when you are wanting it to end. Since climbing real hills is still hard for me (one reason to train on them), my goal was just to climb it as many times as I could. I did it 4 times. I could have done five, but when I got to the top on the fourth climb I had a choice: descend and climb one last time before packing it in, or continue on climbing a few more hills beyond the top of Fortune to the Champlain Lookout - the top of the loop. This is kind of the reward for all the hard work because it looks out over the whole of the valley and it's so beautiful. The park was really busy that day with motorcyclists and road cyclists like myself (and cars too) and I just knew they'd all gone up there and enjoyed the view. So my decision was to head up to the lookout because I knew I'd be done and wouldn't have the energy to get up there if I did one more interval. My tired legs got me up there and I stopped for a couple of minutes to take it in. Then I headed back feeling pretty good about the ride as a whole.
Today I wanted to do an easy ride and the original plan was to head out for the group ride this morning and get in 100K. However I got some good advice yesterday about not setting my alarm this morning because I was so bagged yesterday I cannot describe it. In the end I did not wake up in time to eat and get ready for the morning group ride, but I wasn't overly heartbroken about it. Would have been nice to do it, but hey - it's still May, I'll have plenty of 100K group rides to do this summer. The new bike is about ready to get it's first tune-up. Things are getting looser and making little noises here and there. I figured I'd ride up to the shop and then go wherever I felt like from there. Only problem is: the shop is near the Gats and I have to go through part of them to get to it. Hmm. OK. I figured I could do a few climbs to get there. No worries. I climbed up the small hill to the main entrance into the park and my legs were complaining. I stood there for a minute or two and thought about the hills I'd have to climb to get to the shop. Mmmm. I don't think so. Decided to forego the shop visit today and see them another time. Besides, some of the noises went away when I lubed my chain this morning. So I went on a little adventure ride to places I've never been before over there on the other side of the river. Got a little lost. Had to carry my bike into the brush around some flooded areas near the river. But all in all, a decent outing and kept it easy today.
Next week/weekend I hope to accomplish a couple of my cycling season goals. Will keep you posted.
(I had originally titled the post "The Gats" and then thought that I remembered calling one of last summer's posts that. I looked back and sure enough I did, so had to change it. Haha!)
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