It's a BEAST of a Climb!

My chest was pounding, my legs were screaming, and my face was pasted with a dumb smirk as a pedaled furiously up Bearwallow Mountain. Weinacker was back in her element, swaying and dancing up the switchbacks, focused on getting to the peak of mountain as fast as humanly possible. This was the Bearwallow Beast Hill Climb, part of the Lung Buster time trial series, and was a 4 mile climb that I was told, was like climbing the Saluda Grade. Whoever told me that, should be shot, because they lie. This climb had very steep pitches up to 20% grades about half way in.

I a did a little recon of the course (in my car) prior to the start. My poor, old Xterra shuttered under the steepness of the climb. I had a great warm-up, solid and confident. I knew going in that I was not in 'race shape' or at 'race weight', but that this would serve as an awesome way to mentally get back out there after transitioning out of endurance triathlon. The anticipation of what was about to come was more daunting then the actual event. The pain that was surely to occur, and by my choosing. Why do we hit ourselves in the head with a jack hammer? It is simply because it feels so good when we stop.

The start was uneventful as the guy held my bike and I was counted down....5, 4, 3, 2, 1 gooooo! I sprinted out of the gates on the gently sloping beginning of the course. Then.... "it" hit me.... Oh crap, I've started out too fast.. RELAX, breathe! Plug and chug, keep your cadence going... "it" never gets any easier, you only go faster... I repeated my mantra that the great Greg Lemond spoke... It never gets any easier, you only go faster..... As I rounded the last switchback, my chest was literally pounding..... my face grimaced in a fake smile of complete enjoyment and exhilaration. The climb and the view from the top of the mountain were both breathtaking and spectacular. I enjoyed every sheer second of misery on that mountain. It was good to me, taking away my breath, but giving me so much more in return. Thank you God.