Let's Suffer

Bill- 'You ready?'
Me- 'Yup, what's the route?'
Bill- 'Thought we'd hit the escarpment via the waterfront, head back across the top, drop down through Port Credit and back to the waterfront.'
Me- 'Sounds good; tempo pace right? I'm riding the Steelwool and some of those hills are going to kill me, especially the ones at the Bluffs.'
Bill- (grinning) 'Just walk them...I won't tell.
Me- 'Sure, let's do it.'

The sun was out all day, without it getting too hot and keeping us cool. The first leg of the ride seemed go by really quickly. I think due to the fact it was mostly flat and both of us were fresh and joking the entire time. As we came to the hill that descended to the Marina at the Bluffs I sent Bill ahead of me as the only way to control my speed is to slow the pedal rotations. This may sound easy but gravity and a killer hill means that by the end your hamstrings have been used as surrogate brakes and are burning. We took a break at the waters edge which consisted of water, granola and protein mix. We lingered a little longer than normal as we both knew that to continue the ride, it meant climbing the hill we just came down. Bill went up ahead while I took a few extra minutes to put my climbing song into my head. It played, I pedaled. I felt the burning intensify, I played the song louder in my head. With about 100 meters to go, I cracked. The pedals stopped moving, I heard the 'click' of my shoe coming out of the pedal and the sole hitting the road. I climbed off and walked the remainder.

Bill- 'Holy Sh*t! Nice ride. Half-way I was in second to last of the walker gears and my legs felt like someone took a flame-thrower to them. You're crazy. You alright?'
Me- 'Yeah, I cracked and couldn't go anymore. I need to take a breather.'

We did the rest of the ride with a few hills but nothing compared to the Bluffs. We decided after much debate about my sanity that we would head back on Sunday depending on the weather and I'd try it again. By 'we decided' I really mean me in which he will watch me suffer once again.
What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment.