It was tough, but I kept a positive mental attitude and just kept going. After finally reaching the top the coach commented, “Are you having fun? It looks like you almost have a smile on your face.” Truth be told, it was a bit fun. Sure it was painful and hot, but I could see the top and knew I was going to make it.
After reaching the top, it would have been great if it were all downhill. We did go back down the front of Lookout and I loved just “trusting the bike” and passing people that were holding their brakes a little too long. But then we had another couple of climbs ahead of us. Although it was partly cloudy, it seemed that on every climb the sun would peek out and the breeze died.
At the end of the ride, I bonked and had two flat tires. It wasn’t a great end to the ride, but I felt like I passed two major hurdles. The first was Lookout Mountain and the second was crossing the 50 mile mark (and actually hitting 65 miles). Although we are still short of the 100 miles we will do in Moab, I still have two months to prepare and the optimism is setting in.