I tried to ride my fixie up Mt Douglas this afternoon. I got maybe a third of the way up by zigzagging and huffing and puffing as I have never before huffed OR puffed. Then I went a little too far on to the shoulder of the road and my front tire slid out when I tried to zig my zag. So I ended up pushing it the rest of the way up. Which is probably good, because it didn't get any less steep, and my heart and lungs would have given up sooner or later.

So I took some pictures and walked around, then headed down. There were actually quite a few people up there. On the way down, there were cops and fire trucks and ambulances, due to someone having managed to flip thier car. I'm not sure how they did it... but maybe people can take a look at the picture I took and offer a theory.
I took the "seaside" tour route, which offers very little in the way of seaside and rather a lot more in the way of residential side streets. I wanted to find my way to University by a certian route that avoided "Cardiac Hill", but unfortunatly I found myself at the bottom of... Cardiac Hill. I should have taken my map with me. I couldn't make it up Cardiac Hill last time I tried, and had to push this time too. Gah.
Oh well, by the time I can make it up Cardiac Hill and Mt. Douglas on my fixie, I can be sure that I have made significant gains fitness wise.
In case you think me mad, the Victoria Wheelers cycling club holds hill climb competitions, which seem to have been annual up until 1999. The Mt Douglas one was done in record time in 1999, 5:02. A goal to aim for I guess (haha).