Riding Up Mount Lemmon -- Whew!

I have driven up the mountain main times. I have riden my mountain bike down most of it once. I have riden up and down countless trails on the mountain -- INCLUDING the Butterfly Trail (don't do it, seriously. Not ever.) With all of that, I have never riden UP the road.

A few weeks ago, my riding buddy asked if I would want to do this multi-week training program called something like Easy Peasy Mountain Squeezie -- and I, being me, said of course. She said do you want to try to do the whole lemmon or half. And I, being me, said the full one. Of course.

Today, at 5 am, I left the house and got to the starting area. There were quite a few people there, many of whom had already riden five, 10 or so miles. I was fairly nervous because I haven't done it and because my previous evening preperation could have been a little more aligned towards strong performance and not the jovial drinking of adult beverages. Oh well, here we go.

I felt really strong the first three and a half miles. Legs felt strong, lungs felt good. Heart not exploding out of my head like it does on the steep climb up to Colossal Cave. Then, I started to feel funny. Light headed, a little more sweaty than was normal, and definately not strong. I stopped .... riders, runners, etc. were cruising past 'Are you ok?" "Are you ok?" Yes Yes. Fine.

I even told one passing rider to tell my friend I was turning around.

I sat there for a bit, then decided it was time to get back on the bike. Funny thing. Given that I was still a little lightheaded, I decide it would be safer to pass out going uphill than going downhill. So, the plan was ride uphill until I felt better then turn around. Funny thing. I made it to about 1/10th of a mile from where we were targeting. I saw my friend coming back down, so I joined her. But, I made it..... 5.7 (well 5.6 miles) up Mount Lemmon.

Tomorrow is a 5 mile run, next week, up Mount Lemmon again -- this time 9 miles up. Hopefully, I will feel a little better for the whole adventure next week. But still, I am kind of crowing quietly (ok, not so quietly) about my achievement today.