mountainclimb? (photo by Tom)
Fatigued by our travails, we repaired to the Criterion Hotel for a delicious counter meal and some cold drinks. when things got to hot in the beer garden, we sought some local advice and retiring to a shady spot by Cattle creek to regain our strength before tackling the most strenuous section of the entire mission, the climb from Nethervale to Eungella itself. This is a serious climb, going from about 200 altitude to about 700 within 4.5 km. The climb begins with a long steep section made to dishearten the weary rider, and continues with a series of steep switch-backs made to daze and confuse… the sign says 12% grade, but there are sections which feel more like 25%, and occasional gridded drains with yawning gaps for the unwary… Combine this with the late hour of our ascent (timed to miss the heat of the day, but underestimating the distance between Finch Hatton and Nethervale), the traffic on the road, and a 40kg bike rig and it becomes a growth experience:
“When you ride, you ride together, but when you climb, you climb alone”… (me)
nice time for a mountain climb (pic by Tom)
It seems to me that no mountain is the same for any two climbers, since each of us brings, in addition to the physical weight of baggage, the weight of our own experience and emotions both positive and negative. The challenge then becomes not only the terrain itself, the landscape beneath us, but the landscape within , the terrain of our pain at the effort, and the inspiration to continue. By the same token, the mountain does not judge us, its just sits, steeply… while we can judge our selves, or choose not to, and just ride, slowly.
October 11, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Greg Lemond, American cycling legend, once said with respect to training and racing, “It hurts the same, you just go faster”.
June 8, 2010 at 2:56 am
[...] descent is a good, one, all those tears, ragged breathing and and silent pain from the “mountainclimb” to get up the hill, find their realisation in about 20 glorious minutes of 14% slopes, 60kmhr [...]