The Truth is a Hill

I got this nice card from Mary Anne. Ten ways to eat crow. I like crows. Though I had not thought of eating one. Just love the concept of the card. Fun is good where you get it. Thanks to the mind at seltzergoods.com. Thanks for thinking of me Mary Anne.
The card came to me in the morning. I had seen it in Mary Anne's studio. It was in my hand in a second. Over to my desk by the computer. Not to be seen for a few hours. I have stuff to do, friends to see and pick up a bike in need of repairs. Dan wants to start riding his bike again. I gladly offered to get the bike cleaned up, safe and ready to use again. Then I was out to a late afternoon training ride. 4:30 to when I got back. It was a hill day. All hills for the ride. It started out like so many rides I have done. South River Road to Riverdale. A nice 10 mile roller ride to a 2 mile section of flats to the first climb. A nasty though short climb to get the legs in the spirit of the day. Steep but short. Lungs are burning by the top if you let them. So I went at a moderate pace. Stay out of the red zone. Then my normal hill ride, did a lot of rollers to Liberty Road. Today, I was going to climb a road called Skyline. The name tells you the story. I have not climbed this hill in 15 or 16 years. I have gone down the hill often. Even this year. With in the last 2 weeks. I have avoided going up this brute of hill. Even when I was 20 years younger the hill whipped me several times. About 7/8s of the way up there is a driveway to pull over in and catch my breath. I have stopped there many times over the years. That's how hard this hill is. Just relentless. It gets a lot steeper at the last section. Just leg killing steep. Stand on the peddles and just push them over with your weight steep. Pray you do not die or explode steep. Wish you had a "Granny Gear steep". When I was young I climbed this monster every morning in a 42X21. These were the gears of the day. Today it's 39X25 and still not enough. I climb this thing, the best I could. Staying relaxed, keeping my breath and heat rate at about 80%. Stay out of the RED ZONE. It was impossible. I was lucky if I got up the hill at all. It's one of those hills. I'm think of turning around from the first 1/3rd. Then I get to the half point and it is not as steep. Still steep! Just not as steep. Then it's a shorter distance to finish than to turn around. Mind games to keep you going. Anything that keeps you going up the hill. Now about the last 2/3rds it really gets steep. I mean seriously steep. Then it keeps getting steeper till the finish at the top. Dark, covered by tree branches, tunnel like. Few cars, and the cars seem to pay attention. It's hard for them going up to. It's brakes on going down. Did I mention the hair pin turns about half way? There deadly. So I am in the tunnel of death. My heart rate is just below max. I'm hardly turning the cranks over. There is so much pressure and now it starts getting steeper. Right to the finish. I can barely breath anymore. My heat rate is way in the red zone. I am looking for the driveway to pull over in 7/8s up the hill. I had no choice. Just a few neural breaths for just a few seconds. Let the heat rate come down a bit. The heart rate comes down fast. The hill won again. It's beat me many times over the years. It only took 90 seconds to recover. I finished the hill easy after that. Just a quick push and I am on the top. What was I thinking doing this hill at age 57. My young legs could barely do it! Well it got done. I did hands full more of hills on this days ride. Nothing even close to as hard as Skyline Road.
Now I was thinking about my card. Eating Crow in ten slices. Which part do I eat first. Will I have to eat it again? Skyline Road. It's a measure. I did not measure up as well as I had hoped. I like Chuck Roast the best.