Col de Mt Spokane II

Climbing up the side of even medium sized mountains is tough, hard work. And then when the Big Guy throws in some blustery weather you have the makings of a genuine leg toasting morning.

Once again several of us headed up Mt. Spokane this past Sunday in the hopes of finding a smooth cadence, a strenuous training ride and climbing nirvana.

If you recall from a previous post discussing my previous climb, Mt. Spokane is located on the eastern side of the state of Washington, rises almost 5,900 feet above the city of Spokane and provides about 10 miles of solid vertical gains.

For me personally the smooth cadence and the nirvana I hoped to find were missing in action. I did, however, get a strenuous ride in. And I had the opportunity to fight some tough winds, both on the ascent and the descent.

The 44 mile ride wore out my legs pretty good, and provided another good mental test. As our team coach, Scott, told me as he passed me (he had stopped earlier in the ride for a couple of minutes) this is a great way to toughen up the mental muscles and gives one something to remember later when facing a difficult spot during a race or a training ride.

So I am hoping that both the mental and physical benefits from climbing up the side of Mt. Spokane stick around for awhile. It all adds up towards IM CDA 08.

Thank you for reading.