Hills in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion are both long and steep, with many having the dreaded arrow on the map which basically means 'push' - at least it does for me!
As cycle touring is a bit of a new venture for me, I am having to learn all the skills needed to be a proficient cyclist. I am getting better at prejudging the steepness of a hill and getting into the correct gear before hyperventilation sets in which then induces severe wobble and ends up with an abrupt stop.
There is also the balance of fitness, cycling speed and determination to get to the top of the hill. I am not a competitive person and even if hundreds of people were lining my route shouting 'go on - you can do it!' it would not make me perform better. I'm not sure if I will begin to challenge myself to keep going, but at the current time only my bag of sweets is a motivator.
When my son was younger, and we were on an unrealistically demanding walk or journey we were at least nice enough to supply him with daily bags of sweets (over which he had total eating control) and also a couple of 'despondency bars' which were his favourite chocolate bars and could be eaten whenever he felt very despondent! Thus, I now have a large bag containing only red and black jelly babies and fruit-pastilles as these are my favourite flavours - in the event of needing a mouthful of sweets to help morale on steep hills there would be no benefit in getting a green sweet - it would not do the trick at all!
Although I have pushed my bike up a number of steep hills so far, I do think that I am getting better at them and I am sure that by the time we get through Wales I'll have had plenty of practice!
