conquered U-Conn trail today

I went for a mountain bike ride early this morning.

The skies still had the usual morning fog as I rode down Hwy 9.

I made it up the U-Conn trail without stopping today - 1.85 miles of singletrack on a 6.5% grade on a singlespeed. It felt good. I think the reason I made it is that I set up my GPS to show my heart rate. The last few times I've climbed U-Conn I've noticed that the limiting factor is cardiovascular, not muscular. My legs are strong enough to make it, but I feel like my heart is going to explode. So today, I strapped on the heart rate monitor to see exactly how hard I was working as I climbed. My maximum heart rate is 183 bpm (220 minus my age). As I was climbing the lower section my heart rate topped out around 167 bpm. Then, at the technical and steeper section near the top, my heart rate maxed out at 176 bpm. I figured I couldn't stop until I was giving over 100% (and what exactly would my heart do if it went over 183 bpm, anyway?). Before I knew it I had made it to the top. Here's the entrance to the U-Conn trail, off of Hwy 9.

I explored more trails, logged more waypoints on my GPS, and was bummed to find out when I got home that I never started the GPS. So all of those points aren't saved and I won't get to see my heartrate for the climb up U-Conn.

I do know that I rode for over 2 1/2 hours, covered 22 miles, and climbed over 2,000 feet.

I'm thinking about changing the rear cog on my mountain bike to one with a few more teeth, in order to make climbing easier. Riding a singlespeed definitely makes you a better climber, but it also wears me out faster. I'd like to be able to do longer rides over time, and I think that having an easier gear ratio will conserve energy for longer rides. The downside is that on flats and downhills, I'll start spinning earlier and won't be able to go as fast. We'll see.

You can barely see the trail, but it's there:

Spiderweb:

Singletrack: