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October 6th, 2008 might go down as one of my most memorable days on the mountain. You see, at the Starr Pass Trails there’s this hill we try to climb called Yetman. Every time we ride, Yetman reminds us of how tough this sport is and ultimately why we do it.
As fairly new riders, we started in April of 2008, Yetman serves as our measuring stick as to how far we’ve come. I’ve been able to climb a little further each time. Inching closer to the finish. For the last 2 or 3 months I would get stuck on “Give Up Slope”, about 75 feet from the top. I thought I would never climb it. Only one rider in our group knew what it was like to conquer it.
No more! I started the steady climb with a witness behind me. It’s important that someone is there with you because if you say you climbed it with nobody to back you up, then you might as well say you climbed Everest. You won’t be taken serious.
I had to get over “Give Up Slope” this time. I almost fell over at the peak of the slope but I had just enough balance to get the pedal power to get me over. The home stretch levels out and you can savor the last 50 feet with the finish line straight ahead. I couldn’t believe it. I’ll try again next time.
Here’s a picture gallery of Yetman on the Starr Pass Trail:
