Col
climbing is an art form
in itself, many leisure cyclist cannot see the fun in it as we found to
our cost when taking 140 Irish cyclist unnecessarily over a Col during
their trip to Portugal .It has to be tried to be appreciated.
Your first Col should be tackled
with an experienced friend who is confident enough in their ability as
a climber not to take advantage of your lack of experience and fly off
and leave you when things get tough .
Gears are essential ,a granny ring is
no shameful thing even Indurain was spotted here with one .
If you can find someone with great bike
handling skills ask them to push you when the going gets hard .I managed
a 80km bike ride over three cols after giving birth to my first child in
just that way and I was very out of shape .My confidence was the
first thing that regained its form, the body ? Well it finally caught
up and I am now training to do several endurance rides in 2004.