Ever since moving to the Pacific Northwest, I’ve wanted to ride my bike up the Heart-o-the-hills road from Port Angeles to the top of Hurricane Ridge. I’ve driven up the road many times on my way to a lovely hike, and admired the cyclists making their way slowly to the top. I looked at them and sometimes thought, “I could never manage to make it to the top!” or “I could totally do this… I think…”. Well, a year and 3 months after being diagnosed with cancer, and 30 years after my mother died of ovarian cancer, I decided to celebrate both her too-short life and my own life and health by riding to the top.
The day I originally planned to do it, September 17, was wet, windy and rather chilly, so I wimped out. I figured riding to the top was going to be hard enough without the additional challenge of doing it in rough weather.
This morning, I awoke early to a beautiful sunrise and a decent weather forecast, so I decided to go for it. I am so glad I did! So I drove to Port Angeles, parked at the Olympic Park visitor’s center at the bottom of the road, and 17 miles and 5,000 vertical feet later I was at the top. I didn’t stay long; it was windy and quite chilly up at the top, but did find someone to take my photo so I could prove that I’d made it.
It was just about as hard to do as I anticipated it would be. It took me about 3 hours up (with several stops for food and water), and 45 minutes down. No, the ride down wasn’t very much fun; it’s 45 minutes of holding your upper body upright and braking, and my hands and shoulders got very tired, plus it’s a bit scary at times!
When I got back to my car, I was very tired, but very happy. This was an incredible challenge (for me), well worth doing, and a great way to celebrate being alive. I am truly grateful for my health and this beautiful place.
