POSTING 3 MONTHS LATE.....
Friday morning we left Salina with wonderful weather. The guys had been riding hard, and the girls decided to let them go and take the ride at our own pace. My iPod died three miles into the ride, so Jen was so kind to sing and dance to me. We passed through Richfield and fixed Emily’s bike, and then onto Joseph. Just outside of Joseph the road turned to dirt for a few miles. We were warned by the guys and had the truck there to pick us up and get us through it. The guys waited for us at a nice little bike path that follows the river. Thinking we were stopping at the top of the canyon for lunch we all pushed ourselves up the canyon. At the top we soon realized we had several more miles to go to get to Marysvale where the motor home had set up a picnic for lunch. With a few big hills before the decent most the girls were done. Thanks to the guys helping us we made it but were all exhausted. In Marysvale we had a nice lunch, relaxed and recovered, then it was back on the bikes. From Marysville to Panguitch I can honestly say it was the hardest bike ride I have ever done. There was a nasty wind we were heading right into, and it was hot. The girls still stuck together and it was hard working. At points it felt like we were barely moving and the hilly terrain didn’t help. In Piute, JJ hopped on the bike and pulled the girls for awhile, which was a nice relief. With about 12 miles until Panguitch I was done. I honestly felt like I could not go any farther. I had told myself at the support vehicle I was getting in the car and riding. When I could see the support vehicle I was so happy…. Then I passed a sign saying Panguitch 10 miles. There was no way with 10 miles to go I could get in the car. With Jen and Amber by me, I just took off. I wanted to get the 10 miles over with and I was in pain. I was tired, emotional, hungry, thirsty, angry and whatever else I was feeling. Those 10 miles were the longest of my life. As I rolled into the hotel parking lot in Panguitch I had NOTHING left. I couldn’t even get my bike up the stairs to the hotel room, let alone my bags. Not to mention I was totally a lobster and sunburned. We showered and a nice little BBQ at the motor home at a the church parking lot.
Saturday was the last day of riding. I knew since being so tired from the prior day that I couldn’t do the full miles that we had to do that day… So I let Camile ride my bike for twenty miles. At the top of Long Valley Junction I got on my bike….Alex was so nice to let me sit on his wheel the whole way down the canyon and then helped me climb the beastly hill from Mt. Carmel Junction to the gates of Zion National Park entrance. As we got to the top of the hill where the motor home was it started to pour and hail. You can’t ride your bikes through the tunnel in Zions so we loaded up all the bikes in the trailer and motor home. We had a nice tasty lunch and then headed down the park. In Springdale the sun came out, it was perfect weather and we unloaded and started the ride again. Andy had the opportunity to ride with the girls and get some bike time with Emily which was nice. Just outside of Springdale we had a brief rain that felt good before a pretty decent hill La Verkin. Again the girls were all sticking together and we had one last huge climb from Hurricane into Coral Canyon. That hill has never been a good hill for me (I have flatted on it several times, we say a man killed in a car crash while riding our bikes, and it has been extremely hard for me to power up). Emily was saying how I was going to have to help her up the hill, well as it turns out she is a climbing machine and as I started to fade fast, she flew past me up the hill. The last few miles to my parents house in Washington is semi hilly, but it didn’t even matter. We were almost done.. My parents live in a new housing development and to get in you have to climb about a 12% hill. It is super short and sweet, but it is steep. Alex came back to help the girls get up the hill, and we are glad he did. We all made it up, Amber tipped over on the bike as the gates closed, but it was a nice hill to finish the ride.
I want to Thanks Andy, JJ , and Camile for running support for the trip, Also we can Thanks Andy and Emily for all the photos. They are awesome.
