Last Saturday I rode the Breathless Agony, once again*, and was once again breathless and in agony. 

This is a horrible 114 mile ride from the flatlands of Redlands up to the Onyx Summit at 8,440' above Big Bear Lake, and every year I ride it, hate myself for riding it, wonder why I'm riding it, and then afterward feel much better and soon cannot wait to ride it again.  Proof positive, if any were needed, that middle-aged cyclists are masochists.

* 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

This year I made it seriously harder by making bottles with expired protein formula; note to self, don't do that.  Turns out you cannot climb very well when you run out of calories...

Herewith, some pictures:

endless stretches as the sun rises, before the first climb

summit #1, Jackrabbit, a Paris-Roubaix clone

summit #2 of Oak Glen, the steepest but not the hardest

climbing "Damnation Alley" to summit #3 at Angeles Oaks

forcing a smile

cresting summit #3, yay

hitting 7,000' on the way to summit #4, this is where it gets really bad

the summit!  Yay.  Not feeling that great, yet...

but after a period of lying-on-my-back recovery, ready to pose with the Reaper

Onward!  Can't wait to do it all again next year :)