But we call it hill climbing.
We had a number of good hills to climb on the KVBC ride on Labor Day. Some of the toughest were on Sandy River Road between Fayette and Chesterville. The weather was clear and cool, near ideal for some hill work.
The ride started in Mount Vernon Village - it was the third attempt at the Eleven Ponds tour that had been completely washed out and then abbreviated by rain earlier in the season. This time, the weather was cooperative, and five intrepid riders showed up on the Monday holiday to tackle the route.
After climbing up and over into Chesterville, the ride dropped down to the Ridge Road which lies on top of the Chesterville Esker, a glacial sandbar that runs between ponds and gullies carved out by retreating ice eons ago. In our age it forms a beautiful flat stretch that we rode all the way to Farmington Falls, stopping for a break at the country store in the Chesterville Mall.
The return ride took us back through Vienna to Mount Vernon, climbing up the Tower Road to the Bean Farm Road, over an area of glacial sand deposits so extensive it was once known locally as "Egypt." Finally descending back into Mount Vernon Village, we left the geology field lessons behind and retreated to the cafe in town for lunch. It made for a great Labor Day ride. We'll have to revisit it again next year.