Smoked...

Actually, smoldering might be more appropriate.

I did my second race ride this week, this time up a canyon in Brentwood called Mandeville. A name that will be forever burned into my head as a synonym for "pure evil". The ride starts out with ever-so-gentle "warm up lap" and then starts the 5 mile climb up a rather secluded street. The ride is very deceiving. It starts out gentle. It's beautiful, picturesque, a nice street in a nice neighborhood with tall trees. You might even think you are in a park. But then it gets a little steeper. And then a little steeper. Meanwhile the pace is getting faster and faster. People are attacking. Think Mike's ride but uphill. I lasted with the lead group about a third of the way. Then slipped to group 2. Then to some guy's wheel. At two thirds, it was all I could do to hang on. But I did. There was a guy from my office in the lead group, and I wasn't going to let him pass me, still struggling, on his way down.

At the last two hundred meters do you want to know what happened? It got steeper. Stand-up-or-fall-down steep. And there's everyone up at the top of this cul-de-sac, waiting.

Yeah.

So I get up there, with a little bit of pride left, rest a moment, and then we all take off back down the canyon. When we got to the bottom, do you want to know what happened?

We turned around and did it again.

Now I think I know pain, but wait... it's not over. I follow my friend back down, and he and another guy and a girl turn off to do a different canyon. When the girl ask my friend the name of this one, he said, "pray". "And don't look up."

I'd like to tell you that I made this one. But from the outset it was so steep that I couldn't stay in the saddle. And I was going so slow out of the saddle that I thought I was going to fall over. I gave up shortly after I started to zip-zag across the road. I have more dignity than that. The others just floated on up...

Here's the best part:

I see my friend, Matthias, at work, and he asks what happened to me. I said, "I ran out of gears", and we got to talking about gear selection. I was convinced he and the others had compacts or something. Nope. I was incredulous. He laughed and said "maybe you need to get more fit!" I was crushed.

I think he sensed this from my heavy stare off into space, and he followed up by saying that it was my first time and that I did really well, especially for having very little hill training. "Now you have a goal!" he said cheerily.

Yes, now I have goal.

Take one guess...