Saturday Update

I am hurting.

I am in pain.

And why?

Because my fellow campers biked me into the ground.

It was crazy.

It was stupid.

Crazy Stupid Hard.

But amazing.

First - I love South Carolina. Love Greenville. Love the hills. Love the challenge. Love (some) of the locals - except the jerks in pickups who razed us during our many climbs.

Second - who knew that Greenville, SC was hilly? Apparently I didn't get the memo - but FYI... it is. Trust me.

Third - According to Dustan and Matt (two of Ashley's friends who took us on our epic bike ride today), Jennifer Harrison and myself have been officially "devirginized.

Yes, my friends - JH and I were devirginized.

How?...

We climbed "The Panther". An epic "hill", crazy stupid hard, 2 miles, between 15-20% grade for the entire effing thing. It took me 30 minutes, and I am forever changed. It was a religious experience - and I would know... after passing a dozen or so churches on the way to the beast of a hill... I found my Saviour during the climb. The peak was beautiful - trust me. I'll post photos of me and Coach Jen later. But well worth the effort.

I think I threw up in my mouth... but didn't dare spit out for fear of falling off my bike. It's kind of hard moving forward, while biking 3 mph at 37 rpm. I wish I could say that I was able to HTFU and climb the entire thing. There were 2 times when I had to physically "hop" off my bike and push the fucker up the hill. I simply couldn't move. Thank goodness the grade went down to 12% - and I was able to hop back on the bike within :40.

It was painful - but I was determined.

I wasn't sure if I would ever have this opportunity again - so up up up I went.

Great day - fellow Camp HTFU'ers are awesome - they kept me honest after my epic climb.

Elizabeth is a phenominal climber - watching her dance up the hill, as my sorry butt kept going backwards was incredible.

Jen - reminded me to stay in aero, was on my shoulder and kept me honest.

Mary - awesome at climbing, not happy when descending - but smiled the entire time.

Leslie - fellow IM Arizona'er - kept biking with me after everyone else stopped. It was great, she made me feel that I wasn't alone. And with her, I wasn't.

Ashley - the girl can ride. A 23 cassette didn't keep her down. And up up up she went. It was all I could do to hang on.

Great epic day of mountains, camp, and more mountains.

I'm liking Greenville, SC...

And now - I'm off to relax. Sorry for the random stuff. Brain is fried - left somewhere (along with the legs) on The Panther mountain. I plan on returning sometime in the not-too-distant future and retrieving them.

Happy Saturday to ALL!

Danielle (Pedergraham) - once again your coffee got us up. Helped us climb. Made us strong. Thanks.