Ride those hills

Sunday was a JDRF team ride. It was a hot day and a hilly route. We started near the corner of Pettis and Knapp on the northeast side of the greater Grand Rapids area. This is close to our house and well known for the many, many hills. We started with a 30 mile loop that featured over 800 feet of climbing. The second loop was also 30 miles and basically covered most of the same roads (Pettis, Egypt Valley, Honey Creek) as the first loop but in the opposite direction. We had a family party to attend so we had to cut the second loop short. When the team turned left, we turned right and cut the 30 miles down to 10. Taken together that's 40 miles and almost 1,200 feet of climbing. Our coaches informed us that they weren't trying to be evil, they were just getting us ready for the big JDRF ride in Nashville in September. That one is 100 miles with over 4,000 feet of climbing. Personally I don't mind the hills, but there was a lot of suffering going on this past Sunday.