Tantalus TT

When you think you know something and then find out you are completely and I mean completely wrong in what you think you know, it sure is a wake up call. I've been saying for a while that I'm going to focus on getting stronger and faster on the bike and I've made some baby steps along the way...yesterday was my turning point.

Saturday night I signed up for the annual Tantalus TT. A bike race again!? What has gotten in to me? I told you, I was serious. For those of you not from here, Tantalus is a little hill (mountain) here on Oahu that offers a nice 5 mile, 1500ft climb. I love this hill, I've done it too many times to count and what better way to get

better at riding than ride up a mountain as fast as you can, then go ride some more. Side note...last weekend at Lavaman the plan was to ride my bike hard and then see what happens out there on the run...well I learned yesterday that it was absolutely not the case that I rode my bike hard last weekend (I sure thought I did), but no dice, that was an easy cruise-y ride compared to what it really feels like to ride hard. Now I know.

Back to Tantalus. I was prepared for a sufferfest and ready to see what I could do with minimal preparation (I've been riding, but this most certainly wasn't my focus) and a last minute sign up. Aaron and I got to the race super early, as he had a much earlier start time than I did (he was done racing before I even started). We were able to get in a nice warm up, catch up with some friends and get ready to race. The race officially started at 7:00 with riders pushing off every 30 seconds. I started at 7:47, so I was the ~95th rider...maybe I could catch some people!

I chatted with Alika a bit before the start and he told me that I haven't been riding what I'm capable of riding, he basically called me a wimp (if you know Alika, wimp wasn't exactly the word he used....I'll let you use your imagination) and told me I'm riding unfocused and lazy (all probably true given the outcome of this compared to Castle to Hanauma and Lavaman bike). He gave me 2 things to concentrate on for the ride and said not to let my mind go anywhere else. I repeated those two phrases over and over and over and over in my head the entire way up that mountain and I will say that this was the most focused and concentrated I have ever been on a ride, ever! Every time I felt like I wanted to stop pedaling and coast for a few seconds I kept pedaling and pushing forward (what a concept?! you want to go faster and get stronger, you don't coast, you push through! Genius)

I got to the top and I have NEVER hurt so much after a ride, my heart hurt, I was out of breath, I almost fell over. Now, I guess that's what it feels like to ride hard. #lesson learned #nowiknow #hurtssogood

End result: 3 minute PR, 2nd Female OA

Super happy I decided to do this race, thanks Bike Shop for putting on a great event, I *might* even come back again next year!