Never say never; I finally faced my Flanders hill demon head on!!

     Early on in the riding season I took a bike ride in uncharted territory; you might remember, it was a "safe" road with little traffic.  However, I didn't consider the HUGE hill I would be forced to conquer.  In fact, I didn't conquer it; I wimped out, got off my bike and walked it up to the top.  I vowed never to do something that crazy again.

          But then a few months went by and I started to feel a little braver after conquering quite a few milestones and I knew I had to go back to that hill...

     The weather forecast predicted rain and the clouds were rolling in, but it was now or never... If I waited until another day I might change my mind.

     I learned a lot from the months of riding; one being the skill of changing the gears to accommodate for the incline, then I also felt more confident in my balance, not to mention I felt like I had more strength after the many miles building up to this day.

     The thing was, I knew I had to hit my goal this time because it wasn't going to be a long ride; the sky was sure to open up at any moment and I would be forced to cut it short.  If I failed to make it to the top of the hill and then only rode a few short miles I would feel so disappointed.

     Amazingly, when I started up the hill this time it was by no means as scary as it was the first time; I just kept focused and finally made it to the top!

for the record, this was a thumbs-up... in case it looked otherwise;)

     I came back down, and to make sure it wasn't a fluke I did it again and at that point I was flying higher than a kite!  The rain held out just long enough, and as I expected, my ride was cut short, but I didn't care; I did what I set out to do.

     I ask myself why I was able to make it this time when I was unable to do it a few months ago... was it more strength or more skill with the gears??  I really think it was all in my head to begin with.  I had confidence that I could do it and I never felt more proud of my accomplishment.  Next time I might actually keep my eyes open:)

Have a great day!!

Christine:)