Hills are a bitch sometimes. We weighed our bikes last week and mine came in (bike + gear) at a cool 99 pounds. I weigh in at about 150 so, you do the math. Its a lot to haul up a steep hill! My quads are getting the brunt of the pain, but getting better! We're now in Texas Hill Country. So basically it works like this: I put it in the easiest gear and Zach gets behind me and says encouraging things and we go 3.5 miles an hours up the hill. And then we do it again. And again. And in between we get to ZOOM really fast downhill at 10 times the speed. Thats the good part. Today I caught myself thinking of The Little Engine That Could, and it helped.  I think I can I think I can I think I can, in time with my pedal strokes-but I thought of it like: I THINK I CAN therefore I CAN, not, I think I maybe might be able to. Thinking of myself as a small slow engine is good.  I feel strong then. This is just prep for the mountains. I'm already SO MUCH STRONGER. I almost think I caught a glimpse of my 4 pack in the mirror the other day. Zach of course, can do it all no problem--but he very sweetly just stays behind me and is awesome.