Hills -or- Wind??

What would you rather deal with when biking, hills or wind?

This past weekend, my coach (Nicole) & I went on a charity ride called the Flight of Doves. It was a fantastic metric century w/ the best SAG stops in the state. With me training for a 70.3 in October this was the longest distance I had done yet this season. I was excited, yet a little nervous for what was to come. Thankfully my coach was out for an easy ride, which helped keep the pressure off of me.

We all start out & instantly I am having flashbacks of a few weeks prior on another group ride. Everyone was riding so close together (something that triathletes rarely experience unless they also have a road bike, which I do not) & I was enjoying the draft. The group was charging up the first several hills & I was going right with them. Soon though, I remembered it was a metric century ride ... my longest ride yet of the season. I backed off. Instantly once I was out of their draft the realization set in that now I had no help pulling me up the hills, except for my own legs. My coach, Nicole, is too small to get a good draft off of!  =)

Up and down, up and up and up and down. It seemed like there were way more up hills than down hills, but I guess it always seems that way! We were cruising along just fine and then mile 48 hit me. Yep, I started bonking. We had 14 more miles to go & I was hurting. My back was hurting, my legs were hurting & I was just spent. Every time I saw a new hill I became pretty vocal about it! At the last SAG stop I ate some cookies, gelled again & sucked it up for the last few miles.

During my bonking session & my extremely cheerful spirit about the hills (hahaha), Nicole asked me if I'd rather ride up hills or against the wind. Of course I barked back "WIND! WIND IS WAY BETTER THAN THESE STUPID HILLS!" At that moment, when you are bonking, I think everyone would probably say they'd rather deal with the opposite of what their current suffer-fest involved.

As this week has gone by, her question has stuck in my mind. What would I rather deal with ... honestly? Hmm, yeah I think I would rather have hills. Shocker I know after this past weekend. But think about it. You can train on hills. There is always an end in sight. Hills are mini challenges, or major challenges depending on the hill/mountain, but when it comes down to it, there is a top to each and every hill no matter how long or steep it might be. Wind on the other hand is unpredictable & you can't really train specifically for head winds. How long will they last? Who knows. How strong will they be (how slow will they make you)? Who knows.

I choose hills!