Mike Says Meh The blog of Mike Kauspedas | Hosting by www.gearhost.com

I’ve never been this sore in my life

It hurts to simply move my leg, just lifting it even while sitting. But that good kind of accomplishment hurt. I walked up the manitou incline on Saturday morning. A spur of the moment idea between a couple friends and I. Its one mile of 30-40% grades with gravel covered stairs, rusted out drain pipes, and steps that almost require you to climb to the top.

Its not just getting to the top though. Anyone can get to the top, it just matters how much time you have. I think most people, even those that aren't in great shape can probably do it in about an hour and ten minutes. Last year when I tried it about a month after I got into cycling I did it in about that time. This year was different though.

In my effort to loose weight and combat the 8 hours of grueling sitting I do all day I got into cycling. Then I fell in love with cycling. And now I eat, dream, read, and bathe cycling. I love it so much my incredibly painful muscles can't stop me from hoping on for a short ride to try out my new shoes and computer with cadence monitoring!

Back to the incline. With all this cycling I've been doing it so happens I've gained some muscles in my legs. Amazing I know. I guess my body responded to my new live by building bigger muscles to push me faster and farther. My last year of cycling has paid off, in a 44 minute time going up the incline. But the cost of pushing myself is hurting so bad I'm thinking about driving to work tomorrow. A very unhappy thought.

I'll get over it though. In a few days my aching muscles will be gone and I'll be trying to keep an avg 90 cadence in wash park. The incline was worth it. Think of it as Colorado's personal rite to summer, that every Coloradan should participate in. To encourage a long and sun filled summer so I don't have to ride in the rain.