Category — biking

Tuesday night, I loaded up my car with bikes and gear and teenage girls. We headed up to Bear Lake to complete the goal we set a few months ago. We’ve been biking all summer together to get ready to ride the 51 mile ride around the lake.

On the way there, just as we crested the top of the hill when the lake finally becomes visible, Melanie said, “Oh no. Look at that lake. Look at how big it is! We’re riding our bikes around that?”
And we did.

Those girls were amazing. So positive and excited throughout the ride. There were tough moments, but they stuck it out and handled their business. And, at the end of the day, we can say, We came, we saw, and we OWNED Bear Lake.

Rachel borrowed a sweet cabin to stay in the night before our ride. It had an awesome view of the lake and at night, the sky was breath taking. So many stars! Makes me wish I lived farther away from city lights.

view from the deck…

carb loading the night before the ride (dessert first!)…

the girls all slept in this fun loft…

We surprised them with t-shirts to commemorate the event…

Can’t wait to do it again! Maybe next year we’ll do two laps around. Then again, maybe not.

58 mile bike ride… CHECK!

This is just before we started. Only 58 miles to go…

Our group of biker chicks…

Action photo…

I asked for a smile, but Shelby gave me a butt shot instead…

The never ending road…

The ride was absolutely gorgeous the whole way. Blue skies with white clouds, farm country, green fields, cows, horses and chickens running around. One minute I smelled lilacs and grass, the next minute it was a pig farm and skunk.
A feast for the senses.
I kept stopping to snap photos along the way, and this last one is my favorite…

Today was just about as perfect as it could have been weather-wise. Great day for firing up the BBQ and eating outside. That has to be my favorite part of spring and summer. Al fresco dining is one of the greatest pleasures to my mind. We always linger around the table for longer than normal when we’re outdoors. No hurry….relax.

Earlier in the day I was delivering a photo cd to a friend who lives just two streets down away from me, and to squeeze as much enjoyment from the day as possible, I hopped on my bike and invited The Fish to come along. I held the cd in my right hand, and halfway down the street, I hit my brake hard with my left. Yep. That’s the front brake and this is a bad idea. The back wheel flipped right over my head and I ate pavement. It was ugly.
Worst part… there were witnesses. Nice neighbors who expressed concern. It was totally embarrassing. They said, “Are you ok?” I said, “Yes, thank you. Now let us never speak of this again.”
I landed right on my knee and man is it swollen. Ice, elevate, ouch. I am staying off it for tonight.
Good news is that I have plenty of time to watch Casablanca.

Today was glorious. I participated in the Goldilocks Bike Ride. There were 15, 30 and 60 mile courses. I opted for the 30 mile.
This ride taught me two things:
1. I am totally hooked on cycling.
2. I have a lot of work before I’ll be ready to conquer the Tour De St. George.

I can’t remember a time when I’ve been more physically tired than I am right now, but it was so much fun. The ride took us through some beautiful farm lands as well as urban scenery. It was just gorgeous and apart from some wind, the weather was perfect.
Look! I took photos. Just in case you are wondering why I have these goofy plaid shorts on, it’s because I cannot rock the spandex by itself. I just can’t do it.