You never know what ride will be your last. 806 m

Well that's kind of a over execrated title since I'm still alive & healthy but this turned out to be my last ride for the rapha challenge which is really disappointing since it wasn't nearly as big of a test as i wanted it to be. This is because i wasn't planing for this, the plan was to get some meters in on Saturday day 22 & Finish it off today Sunday with a big ride. Turned out that i couldn't fit my ride in my schedule today, this hurt me bad i was really looking forward to one adding up my total of climbing meters to 17,000, & two having this as my final test to show my improvement.

rapha rising day 22 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

Almost to the top. 1,237 m

With just a few days left , i choose mt. baldy road once again. this time i had a finish on my mind, not with the rapha challenge but with going to the end of the climb were the road eventually stops. I was doing very good , the best I've ever done on this course. I started through the switchbacks but with only 1 mile left i realized i miss manged my time schedule with my girlfriend who i told to meet me up at the bottom at a certain time for dinner. Now I'm more that confident i could finish this course something i could have never done before.

Rapha rising day 21 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

The Galibier! 1,212 m

stage 18 of the tour de France was the most beautiful display of heart i have ever witnessed so beautiful that it made my eyes tear up. To see a man push pass his limits with pure heart & will was just so amazing to me. I read old stories and see old clips of past legends, & historical moments but i never really witnessed on e in real life & today was one of those moments that should go down in the books. Andy schleck solo break was very heroic and an amazing display of heart & courage but the true moment that did it for me was to see thomas voeckler push up the final hill to cross the finish line to hold on to his yellow jersey, By far my favorite moment ever in sports. I will never forget this stage & that moment. As for my ride still trying to do something a little extra but still no big help. Today was a real kick in the butt to see so many people reach the goal but i have noting to blame but myself for missing out on the days i skipped, But i will continue to ride since 14,000 isn't a good enough mark for me.

                                                   Thomas voeckler galibier finish

Rapha Rising day 20 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

Bear on the road. 852 M

Today was just another day for me into about 4 miles in my usual ride a fallow cyclist told me that there was a bear on the road just ahead so not wanting to take the risk on how hungry he was i decided to turn around. I was only able to rake up about 468 M, knowing this was not enough i relocated to another road of mine to try and get a few more meters in, but it didn't have much to offer me with elevation gain. So not as much climbing done as i expected but i did get to spend some time taking pictures.

Rapha rising day 19 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details
Rapha rising day 19 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details-ride 2

Different strategy, 1,477 m

Coming off a rest day i felt fresh so i choose to push a bigger gear than usual. I was really impressed with this style of ridding since i been pushing small gears at higher cadence this whole time. I noticed that my cadence was much lower but so was my heart rate and lactic acid build up so this allowed me to ride more casual. This style proved to benefit me as i climbed the most meters so far. I also enjoyed this style of riding since it was such a beautiful day and i was able to soak it all in.

Rapha Rising day 18 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

Rapha rising day 16 & 17, no riding.

So after a week straight of riding i noticed my performance was slowly decreasing, unfortunately it took a Sunday soccer game to realize how tired my body really was since i was way more tired than usual for my game. So i ended up taking this Monday off with no exercise just a good oh lazy day. I also thought that since i won't be hitting the 21,100 meter mark i will spend a little  more time on the photography side of my ride since i been to caught up in the riding and have only used my cellphone camera.

Rapha Rising total as of today- 10,109 meters

Today was rest day... well not actually since Sundays are soccer Sundays for me but i did have a day off the bike. I have now reached 10,109 meters and have about 11,000 to reach the grand total. At this time i realize that this goal will not be reached, not only did the other competitors already reach the goal long before me i just also realize that this would be a lot more climbing that I'm capable of. This does not mean i will throw in the towel  since my new goal is to get at least in the top 50. I would be really satisfied with this result considering my bike experience. So far on  strava.com i am ranked 81 out of 533 with 5 more days remaining.