Taking on Diablo

Today was another surprise. I successfully completed my first set of hill repeats up Mount Diablo!! I'll have to back up so I can give you more context.

First of all, making it to Tuesday workouts with the Team requires extensive planning and a village of people and favors. Since I need to be in Walnut Creek by 6:15 p.m. that means I have to go straight from the office in SF via Bart. Which in turn, means I need to take everything with me in the morning. This meant the "purse" I brought to work consisted of items like my wallet, lipstick, blush, a heart rate monitor, a book, bike shorts, Gu, a phone charger & arm warmers. I was a walking yard sale on my way to work, with everything but the bike, helmet & shoes. Thankfully, Coach Mike is always ever-so-kind to bring my road bike (and gear) with him to WC, and Nick graciously picked me up from the Bart Station and returned me home after dinner. Now those are just the logistics to get me from Point A to B.

Typically, the Team does spin workouts ~ providing the comfort zone of being stationary, right outside of Sports Basement and altogether in a nice little line, set to the tunes of ZZ Top or The Red Hot Chili Peppers. But in recent weeks, thanks to the late sunset, Coach Dave has led the Team out for a full-on bike ride. And not just any bike ride -- a series of hill repeats up "The Devil Mountain".

The picture I had painted in my mind of this alleged "climb up the mountain" was bigger than I can even tell you. I visualized us literally climbing a mountain. Rocky terrain (i.e. no paved road), ridiculously steep grade. And Coach Mike's term of "relentless hills" used to describe it didn't do much for picturing a pretty "little" hill instead of this giant mountain. This meant it was time to extend beyond my own comfort zone again... on a weekday, after work, and I needed to get my mind right and calm the nerves before I got there.

To add insult to injury, my day at work was also pretty rocky. Manageable for the most part, but [without going into too much detail] in the latter part of the afternoon, I was asked to handle a huge "emergency" task that had me on edge and left in the middle. At the last possible second, the entire project was cancelled, leaving me a little annoyed, with wasted time and resources & unfortunately, unacknowledged for all the behind-the-scenes work I had done. Not even a thank you ~ just another "emergency" task placed over it, which started the hustle and bustle all over again! This all occurred about an hour and a half before I was to "scale the mountain". Thank goodness I had the other half of my amazing Town Hall skirt steak sandwich awaiting me. I told myself in the beginning of this week that I'll be fine through all the stress & intensity of the training week, combined with work as long as I have two things: food & sleep. So the sandwich did the trick and before I knew it, it was time to hop into the bike jersey and jet out the door.

By the time I met up with Nick, the sun was shining in the East Bay. Nick was his usual relaxed self (he makes riding a bike look effortless) and it helped me get into the zone. I suited up and fueled up with Gu in the parking lot, and soon after, the 13 or so of us were off. Where we were going or what we were approaching was still a mystery to me but I took it head-on and broke it down a few yards at a time. On our way out of the parking lot, there was an abrupt stop, causing me to think/act fast, unclip & do an unexpected stop. This was definitely a victory for me, considering where I was not too long ago...

Through some residential streets, into traffic riding the bike lane, through a round-about and another few miles up on a steady incline... we reached the North Gate of Diablo. Coach Dave instructed us to ride past the guard gate and to the first stop sign, where our repeats would begin. The emphasis and objective of this workout was to ride for 6 minutes at our threshold pace (or about 169 beats per minute for me). And to do as many as we could before sundown. Alas, the Garmin ran out of juice and I again had to rely on the "feel" of my natural exertion as my guide on how hard to push up the mountain. Coach Mike rode the first set with me, telling me I had to beat him up the hill, but that he wouldn't make it easy and I "had to earn it".



My first perception of the hill was that it reminded me of Beach Hill on the Wildflower bike course. Now again ~ remember that not only did I used to loathe and fear hills, but there was no WAY I could decipher one from another. Mike affirmed this part of Diablo resembled Beach Hill and it occurred to me that I'm learning and familiarizing myself with much more than I thought :)

I pushed and pushed (and it was actually kinda fun!) and when we reached 6 mins on the clock (I was in front of Mike!) ~ hardly a flattening out of the road, I pulled over and prepared to manually turn my bike around for the descend. I still wasn't comfortable doing a sharp turn on the narrow roads. I get this mental block to do it and picture myself leaning too far over and hitting the ground hard. It looks really scary to me.

Off we went on the descend: it was steep, but fun. I got down into the drops, shifted up to the big ring and pedaled through. When it came time for our turnaround however, I was not very prepared (I barely saw Helen waiting at the stop sign and signaling us). Mike screeched over to the side and I tried to find a level place to safely stop too. I found a little dirt section, unclipped and applied the brakes, but didn't feel as stable. I stuck my foot out and stopped the remaining momentum with my foot, but was still facing downhill. Phew! Hardly a safe or steady stop. I was just thankful I stopped in one piece. Of course, I forgot to downshift and did it manually before I started on the next repeat.



Coach Dave rode the second one up with me, teaching me how to countersteer on the turns (both uphill and downhill). It was helpful to get his insight for an especially advanced cycling skill. The climb went well and it kept me honest, and soon came the turnaround point after another 6 minutes. Dave said, "Ok, here's where you're going to turn. Be sure to take it wide." -- "Umm... you mean I'm going to do that right now? But what about my mental block? I WILL fall. I see it happening," I said, shaking in my cleats. Dave rode up ahead and showed me an example of what it's supposed to look like. "My turn is not going to look like that," I said. There were no oncoming cars or bikes ahead, the ground leveled out a bit, and there was a shaded area right in front of me. If there was ever going to be an opportunity to make this sharp turn, this was it. I took a deep breath, maintained whatever confidence I could muster and faced the dragon. I rode as close to the right edge of the road as I could and started to turn my handlebars and shift my weight. The minute I could feel any doubt creep up or start to slow down in my pedalstroke, Dave yelled, COMMIT, COMMIT, COMMIT! Just then, it's like this wave of power came over me and I had completed the turn! No falling, no exagerrated leaning -- I did it! Uphill. Along Mount Diablo. I successfully countersteered and made a turn. And on a fairly narrow road, to boot.

And then came the immediate descend ~ which left me a little under 10 seconds to celebrate my newest victory. Dave told me to get right into the drops and when approaching left turns -- apply pressure to the right side of my handlebars, and pressure on my left thigh against the saddle. And vice versa. It's counterintuituive ~ hence why it's countersteering :) As I got more used to the sensation and let go of any doubt or fear, I started to get comfortable and got the hang of it. Probably going 30-35 mph down the mountain. And then, Dave yelled, "Ok, Maria, now we're going to prepare for an emergency stop!" WHAT?! I yelled back. Dave came to this smooth slowdown right at the same stop sign where Helen was standing. This is where I had that scary stop before and now I had to come to a complete stop AND turn around on the downhill? I watched Dave pave the way again, and was supposed to mimic him another time. Helen encouraged me through it, saying I could do it. And just as I started the turn again and felt a twinge of apprehension, I heard those words again (they could have been said aloud by Dave himself, or the echo of his voice from the last turn was loud enough in my mind ~ I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference) ~ COMMIT, COMMIT, COMMIT! And sure enough, I did it again! I celebrated another success, couldn't believe it, and got right back into another repeat :)



After one more repeat (and a couple more successful turns), the sun had started to set and the Team and I were back on our way down the great mountain and en route to Sports Basement. I zoomed on my bike and felt so powerful. I had conquered another handful of fears, hung with the Team on their speed and kept a good flow and cadence going. Of course, what journey back would be complete without another last thrill? As I had my groove going, riding off into the sunset (literally), we zoomed right by the guard gate, just in time for me to see some spikes jutting out of the ground. I saw Mike on the side of the road, waiting up to make sure our group was complete and about ten feet away I saw the spikes. OH SH*T I said, in an unusually calm voice, and had just enough room to gently veer away to avoid them.

As we pulled back up to the Sports Basement parking lot, I rode up to Nick and said, What a delightful ride! The infamous Mt. Diablo Ride really had its moments of uncertainty, doubt and the makings of being one giant mountain for me to climb. But as I said in the first line of my post ~ it turned out to be a surprise. I reached some major new personal milestones, conquered some more demons and couldn't be prouder.