I had been meaning to put this on my list ever since I hiked up the mountain, and I noticed that the road leading all the way to the top is just about the only hill in a very large area. I gave up riding my bike around Tempe because it’s all flat and boring (and I ran into a truck that pulled in front of me, which was not so much boring as it was discouraging). But the goal was really set in my mind. I’m about to move out to New Orleans on Sunday morning, so I decided to do all I could to do this.

Well, I took my bike to the shop to get the front tube replaced, took it back an hour later after it popped, and finally made my way to the mountain. I was cruising around for a couple minutes, looking for the right road, and then my chain doubled over and got really badly stuck. I had to disconnect the chain to get it out, and it just did not want to go back on. I eventually gave up on it (after about 3 hours, half of it after sunset) and cruised back to my car, determined to go back and conquer the mountain.

Well, I took the bike back to the shop today (they recognize me now), and it should be good to go. I’m doing it today, hopefully before the sun goes down, and I don’t really have room for failure. Wish me luck.