Yesterday, I decided it was time to start training again. In about a month, I’m leading a 65-mile ride that includes Latigo Canyon—a hill that used to be manageable but will now be extremely challenging given my current lack of fitness.
On the recommendation of some teammates, I installed FulGaz on my phone. The suggested climb was Col du Tourmalet from the Tour de France. Noticing it was about 10 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing, I realized it was comparable to the 9 miles and 2,500 feet I’ll face in a month. I thought, “That’s pretty close. Let’s see if I can make it.”
After inputting my weight, bike weight, and other details to ensure accuracy, I started the climb. Everything was fine for about a minute until I realized my bike’s battery was dead, and I couldn’t shift gears. My bike had fallen over in my office, probably pressing the derailleur button for a couple of days. I was stuck in 3rd gear.
My first thought was, “Well, I’ll just see how far I can go.” The first part of the ride was relatively easy, around a 5% grade. At the 5-minute mark, I thought, “Maybe I’ll make it to 10.” When I reached 10 minutes, I decided to continue until my cadence dropped below 40 rpm.
Around 15 minutes in, I was 2.5 miles in and feeling pretty good. I decided to aim for the halfway mark at 5 miles. Then the climb got steeper. The grade tipped up to 8%, then 10%, and I was still in 3rd gear. Completely out of shape with hardly any leg strength, I pushed on. Realizing my goal of 5 miles was ambitious, I adjusted to a more immediate target: 30 minutes or a cadence drop below 40 rpm, whichever came first. I settled in and started to grind. When the 30-minute mark arrived, I was almost at 4 miles. I figured if I kept going at this pace, I could make it another 15 minutes to reach 5 miles.
I set another small goal: 15 more minutes or 1 more mile. I continued setting these incremental goals, pushing until I either reached the next milestone or my cadence dropped below 40 rpm. I made it to 5 miles within my estimated time.
Next, I aimed to grind for 1 hour—my best time up Latigo. The grade was frequently at 13%, and my cadence dropped into the high 50s, but I managed to stay somewhat comfortable. At the hour mark, I wondered, “Could I actually make it to the top?” It was a long shot, but I was feeling good.
Knowing my fitness wasn’t where it was when I set my PR on Latigo, I estimated a more realistic time for next month’s climb to be between 1 hour 15 minutes and 1 hour 20 minutes. I aimed for 1 hour 15 minutes to ensure I could sustain the effort. Reaching that goal, I set another: 1 hour 20 minutes, the likely time it would take to climb Latigo next month. I made it.
By this point, I was tired. I would have needed to dig deep, but something in me gave up a little as my cadence started to slow. Instead of pushing with my remaining strength, I succumbed to the fatigue after climbing for 1 hour 20 minutes, covering over 2,500 feet and more than 7 miles. I was content with my first ride back.
Reflecting on the ride, I realized that all those small goals amounted to one significant accomplishment. I had no idea how far I’d get in 3rd gear and didn’t expect to reach 7 miles. But by setting and achieving small goals, I kept pushing forward. In cycling, as in life, I need to set these small goals and trust that achieving each one will eventually take me further than I thought possible.