Harley Ride 2009- Day 3
Green - Can I tell you that I like green. Green fields, green trees, trees, trees. Once we get far enough east to pass the farm lands, the trees become very plentiful. There is lots of rain here. We even got rained on today while travelling into Nashville. We had about 2 1/2 hours of riding in the rain, so, not bad. But all this rain leaves things green.

And then the moisture causes a blanket of fog in the morning. We have been starting out at 7:00 and the sun is just coming up. The air is chilly and the fields are covered with fog. You see the fingers of fog moving across the ground about 6 feet above it. It dances and swirls. Then as the sun warms up the fog, it becomes thinner and almost invisible, until it vanishes altogether.

There are old dilapidated farm houses and new state of the art farmhouses with a yard full of tractors and tractor equipment. My favorites are the old ones. Open windows, gray wood, shake shingles, stalls on the side and no stalls on the sides. Who use to live there? What did they farm? Why is this barn abandoned? Did they just move over to the next field, or are they a product of generational changes?

We crossed the Missouri River, Mississippi River and Ohio River today. Big wide lazy rivers. Lots and lots of water. *Rain* Tom Sawyer comes to mind!

It was mostly flat riding all day again today, but about 45 minutes out of Nashville, the mounds along the way started to become hills, and then they rose abruptly out of the ground with shear rock faces. Granted they are only about as tall as South Mountain, but they were a beautiful sight to see. I love it out here, but I love the Rocky Mountains.

My favorite invention for the day: ear plugs! These are the best things ever! You roll them between your finger until they are small snake like. Then you put them in your ear and wait for them to expand. When they are fully expanded, it cuts the noise out like you are under water. Saved me from another dreadful headache. Love em, love em!

When I get home, I am going to have to work off the 2 ax handle wide my tush is becoming. Instead of a secretary spread, I am getting a Harley spread. I even notice the flattening of the thighs when I take a potty break. All this sitting causes the blood to pool in my behind, so I am grateful for breaks, send the blood back to the feet and to the heart. For exercise, I dangle my feet off the pegs. At 80 miles an hour the wind pushes them at a consistent pressure against the saddle bags. When Kevin let's off the gas, my feet rock forward and back, where ever the wind blows them. This is very small movements, but it is entertaining. So for exercise, I do resistance. I try to hold my feet forward for as long as I can. The problem is that the blood is still pooled in my behind and so the workout only lasts a few minutes. Or, because my fanny gets soar after about an hour, I will hoist my fanny just above the seat and try to hold that position as long as I can before settling down on the seat again. So now you know what my leftie and rightie brain are doing for 10 hours on a motorcycle.

Reflective ride notes: 537 miles today. Went through Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. Crossed 3 Rivers, Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio. 4 gas stops. Can go just under 150 miles on a tank of gas. Least expensive gas today was $2.49/gal. Most expensive was $2.79 a gallon. Got rained on, but not enough to put on rain gear.

Harley Ride 2009-Day 2
Line upon line, we left the hotel in the early morning dew! The humidity was high, which made it a little cold as we drove the line down the path of I-70 from Limon, CO to Blue Springs, MO (just outside of Kansas City, MO). The sun comes up in an eye piercing halo through the mist. It was a beautiful morning on the road! Chilly, but we dressed warm!

We found ourselves line dancing the dotted white line and the solid white line on our way to where we will finally crawl off the motorcycle and plop ourselves under the covers of a bed in a nice hotel. See things are good on the road:).

Hold the line to be safe and never surrender your position on the freeway, cause then you just have to pass the half asleep drivers again. Cruise control is the best thing ever invented.

Have you driven across the flats of Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Beautiful sights of fence lines, electrical t-pole lines, corn rows, lines of rolled hay, pass a line of semi's, semi's pass us, just kidding, semi's were not passing our bike, railroad lines, silo's lined up along the railroad tracks, roads extending as far as the eye can see, windmills turning slowly in the breeze, tractors standing at attention, waiting for the next field to plow. There is order out here in these farms and in the world!

This adventure is a hard line we are taking. It takes a lot of endurance and will to stay awake, when you are on the back of a motorcycle, with the chilly humidity trying to enter the depths of your body and make you shiver, the only thing you hear is the hum of the engine and the wind blowing in your ears, the smell of fresh cut grass, or cut corn, or cut the cheese, or road kill, smell the dog food being made as we pass the dog food plant, a whiff of gas or fuel, sunflowers, moist leaves, turned dirt, it is the briefest scent and then gone with the wind. And the sights are amazing line upon line upon line upon line.

So this is my story line for today! All 599 miles of it!

Reflective ride notes: 599 miles. Drove through Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Ate lunch at Bob's in Dorrance, KS. Bob bought an old gas station and has a sign out front saying burgers and beer. With his ice chests sitting in front of the picnic table. Next to the building is a Sno Shack. Bob keeps his wife in the Sno Shack, she fixed our lunch and never came out, while Bob chatted and drank a beer for all of us. It was awesome!
Ray's shifter fell off the bike and we had to to a minor repair. That's how we discovered Bob's. It happened in front of his place. Then the GPS fell off the bike between Kansas City and Blue Springs, MO. It is history! Road kill! Milo grain growing along the sides of the road, waiting for a freeze so they can harvest. Went to Liberty Jail in Liberty, MO. Fascinating! Ate at the waffle house (Yuck!)(Agreed upon by all three of us!)
4 gas stops. $2.57 was the cheapest gas and $2.70 was the most expensive.

Harley Ride 2009 -Day 1
3 best things:
1. Mountains that rise higher than 10,000 feet above sea level. Snow tipped. Aspens turning yellow. Cool mountain air. Fabulous ski resorts that have evolved into shopping bonanza's - We bought ice cream. Can't fit anything else in the tour bag. 6% grade and then some. Long sweeping turns that are cool on a motorcycle. Tunnels through the mountain. Better than going over it!

2. Riding a Harley-cool wind in your ears, nose and eyes. Even with a helmet, face shield and glasses on. More wind! Blowing at you from different directions, but the Harley can handle it. Sunshine! Love the sun shining on my back or my face as we ride down the road. No Rain! Yes this is a good thing while riding the Harley! The roar of the motor on the road. I like the sound at 80 miles an hour better than 2 miles an hour stuck in a traffic jam in Denver that took us 2 hours to get out of. Orange. Orange is an awesome color for a motorcycle. You can see it coming from a long ways a way. And it helps start up conversations everywhere we go!

3. 681 miles in one day! Ray and Kevin are studs! They ride and ride and ride. I sit on the back after 1 and 1/2 hours and start to whimper. My fanny is sore. My legs are numb. My knees are stiff. I have a back ache! Too much wind in my ears, they are ringing. As long as they keep food in me on a regular basis, potty breaks and stretch my legs. Bring it on! I will go the distance! I will ride on the back, take pictures and keep my whimpering to myself, Cause this really is fun!

Reflective ride notes: 681 miles. Pounding down the pavement! Saw a fox running through a field just past Nephi. Went over Vail Pass 10,666 above sea level. That's higher than the top of Sugarloaf at Alta, and this was the pass, not the top of the mountain. These mountains have tree lines. Where the pines do not grow any higher. There was snow on the tips of some peaks. Bought ice cream in Vail, CO. Variety of scenery. Desert rocks and pine covered mountain sides.

Traveled through Utah and Colorado. 3 gas stops with $2.89 the cheapest and $2.93 the most expensive.

Lotoja 2009!

Yea for another year of Beautiful weather, Awesome support crews, Good Friends, Strong legs and the Finish line!

Jamie podium'd this year. Third place! She worked hard for this accomplishment. Congratulations girl!

Kevin was a stud! He peddaled the whole 206 miles on the tandem with a change of riders on the back. I took the first ride from Logan to Preston. This was trippy, we left at 5:45 a.m. In the dark, a huge group of riders moving through the farm lands yelling "slowing", "rider down", (yes, there was a wreck on the way and that adds a little bit of stress, in the dark, in a group). There was fog along the river and we pulled into Preston as the sun was coming up!

Tiffany, was awesome! She did a long stretch and one of the hardest!. She rode from Preston, up Strawberry Summit and into Montpelier! 46 miles. It was still cool and a beautiful morning!

Then 2 studs tackled Geneva Summit and Salt River Pass. Rob and Kevin rode the next 45 miles and the steepest climbs. Rob was in euphoria! And a blessing for Kevin and the climbs.

Then the original tandem team of Kevin and Morgan rode from Afton to Alpine. 34 miles in the wind tunnel. Morgan did an awesome job of keeping them riding with Toni and "Wookie" Josh. She had a hard pull, in the wind and keeping up with 2 men on a tandem.

I climbed back on at Alpine to ride the last 47 miles. Kevin was tired and we had, as always, wind coming into Jackson. But, we finished! Crossing the finish line is an awesome feeling. I still would love to kick over the 5 km sign one of these days.

Thank you to all who helped support, ride and send their energy our way! We had a lovely time together as a family and completing our goals!

Thank you Chase for taking pictures. After Chase finishes editing them, I will post our favorites!

Wheels!

A day in our life at our house,

There are chores that need to be done!

Kevin has a variety of tools,

That make yard work lots of fun!

A new acquisition for mowing,

Cuts the lawn in a very short time!

But to move snow, dirt and manure,

Use a tractor to cut down on grime!

If he wants to put some wind in his hair.

There is a variety of bikes to choose from!

A single bike or a tandem,

Or a big orange Harley is the Bomb!

Maybe just take a trip to the movies,

Will use something with four wheels!

A couple of ways to go buggin,

It depends on how he feels!

But I am waiting for day when this arrives,

It will be the envy of the neighbors!

All the kids will want a ride,

On this wheelin, crushin, hauler!

You never know what will happen at our house!!!!

A WEEK OF GREATS!!!!
Great Team!!!!
First the Tour of Utah begins! We start with the Trek Red Truck Team staying at Grandma's house for the weekend. After driving for 9 hours, they wanted to go for a ride and stretch their legs. So Jamie, Kevin and I gave them a tour around the block for an hour. And guess what...I didn't get dropped. These guys were fabulous guests!

Great Cyclist's !!!
Some of the Yea of Utah families volunteered at the Tour of Utah. In the mornings we watched the athletes roll in, get ready and Jeff Louder, who loves his fans, signed autographs. It was exciting to watch the kids meet riders that they only hear about. Thank you all cyclists, who take the time to make a youth and adults day!!!

Great Feed Zones!
What fun! I manned Feed Zone 2 at both Stage 1 and Stage 2. Riders came through in a pretty big group at East Canyon, so we were able to get water bottles out, but there were guys in the middle that we couldn't get to. Sweat, Pain and Water! Then on Stage 2, they rode around Utah Lake and started climbing the Nebo loop. Our feed zone was up the hill about 4 miles so the riders were spread out and it took longer than 30 seconds for them to ride by. Another day of sweat, pain, water and today, altitude!

Great Calves!!!!
Kevin, Haedon and I were lucky enough to ride in Trek Red Truck's team car following Rob Britton. Speed, Hold my breath around the corners and Go, go, go!

Great Finish lines!!!
Every finish line is so exciting, no matter who crosses first! This is the last day at the Crits!

Great Yea of Utah kids!
Look at this great group of kids that wanted to ride 100 miles in 98 degree heat! We did a 58 mile loop back to the park and then some of them wanted to do another 40, but the heat was a killer on Saturday, so the second loop riders did about 20 more miles. Look out when these boys get a few years of riding and training in. They are going to be great cyclists!

Great Road Coaches and lines!!!
Without great road coaches and parents, who are awesome, this would be just another ride. But we had parents who sagged and parents who rode and encouraged kids and Nate who keeps us all smiling. Great way to end the summer. The kids have one more race. Go get em guys!

Great Food!!!!
After a 100 mile ride, there is nothing better than sitting around eating hamburgers, hot dogs, carne asada and salads. Also sharing stories, ride ideas and recipes!

What great memories!

Check this off the bucket list!

One of the things I have always wanted to do is to climb to the top of Mount Timpanogas! Put my head in the cloudless sky at 11,750 feet above sea level. It has taken a few years of "let's hike Timp" and I finally reached the summit! Friday July 31, Left Rodney's house about 7:00 and headed to the Timpanogee trailhead with Adam, Jamie, Rocket and I. On the trail about 7:30 p.m. We hiked about 3 miles up to what I call the ledges.

We spent the night under the stars and the almost full moon listening to the hundreds of hikers going up to the saddle in the moonlight. Have you ever noticed that when you are talking at night, the sound carries alot further, or is it that when you speak, because it is dark, you talk louder. Anyway, all you hikers and myself included, when you hike at night. There are people sleeping. Yes, Staci, Reeter is on the trail and way ahead of you! Keep hiking and "shut up". Sorry, had to put that in! As you can tell, we didn't get a lot of sleep! The trail at one point was a line of lights going up or down. On the other hand, it was amazing that so many people want to share our natural resources and hike this incredible hike.


8:00 a.m. Aug 1, on the trail. What a hike! Up and up and up. .



The wild flowers were in full bloom and we had fields of red, white and blue of flowers.



First you come to the saddle and can look down the trail, to the north east, or over to Emerald Lake and the glacier, east, or all of Utah County, west. The saddle is probably 50 feet wide and I didn't feel as dizzy as I did at the top.


To get to the top, you have to zig zag up the rock. Look down and it drops 1000's of feet. Then sit on the top, which is only about 10 feet wide but felt like 1 foot wide. Here I was dizzy, either altitude, adreneline, hungry, tired or just glad to be there. But what a view! And I did it! Now some of you may read this post and think no big deal, but it took many years of trying to get someone to hike this with me. Either the timing was wrong or I was asking the wrong people. SO-THANKYOU!!!! Jamie, Adam and Rocket. We did it! We lived!

Now, which way do we want to go down? Back the way we came, or slide down the glacier? Did you see how steep that glacier is, but we are here and we needed the full Timp experience. I would have been disappointed if we had gone back the way we came. So off to slide the glacier. A mountain goat was standing at the bottom of the trail where the glacier starts. It was a good sign!

Adam, is ready! Rock stabilizers in hand, GRRRRRR!
Rocket is preparing for a speedy descent!

If my feet hadn't slipped out from under me, I would still be up there, talking myself into letting go!

What a day!