First Pink Climb

Another first for me last week : I rode up to Pink Lake lookout in the Gatineau Park for the first time! I had my usual Monday night skills training with the Cyclefit Chicks and it was a tough workout: we practiced gearing and keeping a high cadence on flat terrain. My legs felt pretty tired after the training intervals and I considered not doing the group ride. However, it’s not like me to give up without a good reason, so I decided to give it a try and see how it felt.

Riding up the warm-up hill was challenging, but I stayed at the back and took my time. I made it to the top of the hill and met up with the group again at the bottom of Pink. The group leader said she knew that I could climb Pink and insisted that I give it a try. Another girl from the club, Christine, was willing to give it a try too, so off we went. I had heard so many stories about how hard this climb was that I was expecting it to be way tougher than it really was. Don’t get me wrong, it is a tough climb, but it is totally doable. I thought the climb up to the Champlain Lookout on my mountain bike a few weeks ago was way harder than this was.

There was a deer by the side of the road on the way up and I was afraid I would hit it on the way down. Fortunately, it stayed by the side of the road both times I saw it. Christine and I stopped by the side of the road at some point, thinking we could not go on. A man rode by and told Christine we were almost there, so she said she would like to try to make it. I agreed and we started off again. I’m glad we did not turn around because we really were almost there. We were so proud once we made it to the top!

The descent was a little scary. I reached my fastest speed on my road bike so far, at 49.3 km/h. I had to use my breaks because I didn’t feel like I was much in control of my bike on the way down. What a thrill!

Another accomplishment that fills me with joy. Yay for new milestones!