This past Sunday Timber and I finally did the Mount Hamilton road biking trip. It is something she has wanted to do for a long time, and we had been doing some pretty serious (for us) training to get ready for it. We trained because it is a 19 mile (mostly uphill), 5000 feet or so elevation gain bike ride. If you don't train for it you probably won't make it to the top. I was aiming to have us do it in about 3 hours. We moved the ride from Saturday to Sunday because it was going to be significantly cooler on Sunday. So we started out at 6 AM on Sunday, and an hour into the ride I got 2 flat tires. I knew after the first flat that the day was not going my way, but after the second flat I decided to not tempt fate and aborted my summit attempt. After I fixed my second flat I turned around and headed downhill to where I had parked my truck, and I told Timber to go on without me. My plan was to put my bike on the rack and then drive up the road to be her support crew. I did exactly that, and stopped in 3 spots along the way to make sure she had enough water, food, and motivation. I was also a great opportunity for me to document her feat with pictures. She did eventually make it to the top in 2 hours, 55 minutes. I was (and am) very proud of her for making it because it is not an easy ride. I will have to try it another time and hope that I have better luck.
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