OK, it’s far enough from Friday’s ride up Gibraltar that I can talk about it without fear in my voice. That thing (as Bones remarked in Star Trek, “Why is it we call anything we don’t understand a ‘thing’?”) defies description. I’m told it is Andy Hampsten’s favorite climb, and I’m not quite sure if that make me think of him with greater or less appreciation for his accomplishments. Perhaps the climb would have been fun on a cooler day, perhaps it would have been easier had I not tried to keep up with a 16 year old kid who’s 6’2″ and weighs 129lbs on an earlier climb (Ladera).