Conquering the Heber Valley Century!!

In case you haven't noticed, lately around the Honey House we have become cycling enthusiasts. In August I got my first real road bike as an early birthday present and participated in my first ever bike tour. (I managed to cycle 42 miles, which I was pretty impressed with because I have never been very fit, if you know what I mean.)

Then this month we signed up for another bike tour that happened to fall on my birthday. Honey Daddy and I signed up to do the metric century (100km) ride as part of the Heber Valley Century. My parents and one of my sisters also participated with us.

It was a beautiful day. We left the boys with my youngest sister and headed to Heber City. We got there as the first group was leaving, and I was amazed at how many cyclists there were. I heard that there were seven to eight hundred people riding that day!

Honey Daddy and I had a good time riding together. The first part of the ride was not too bad, but after about 15 miles there was an enormous hill. I am talking about 3 miles of 8% grade. It was tough! I just kept pedaling, even though I was only maintaining about 5 mph. I told my honey to go up at his own pace and I would meet him at the top. I am proud to say I made it to the rest stop at the top! I made my hubby pose for a picture with me.

We're cute, huh?

During our well-deserved stop I enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I saw a bike propped up against a rock and could not resist taking a picture.

Before long we took off again. We rounded a corner only to find that there was ANOTHER huge hill to climb up! Since my husband is a better cyclist than me, especially when it comes to climbing, I told him to go up ahead again and take some pictures for me.

Can you see me? I am the pink speck in the front coming up the hill.

I love this next photo he took of me! Whenever I look at it I feel like superwoman.

I wasn't going to post the next photo in the series because it is just a shot of my rear end, but I decided it was worth it to show you how far up this hill goes!

The best part about going up huge hills is going down the other side! My speedometer said we got going around 45 mph! It was awesome!

Then we rode around in the next valley around various little towns. My husband and I had fun riding together, and we learned a bit about how to cooperate and help one another by drafting. I hope to get in better shape over the winter so that riding with me is a bit more challenging for my husband. That way we can be a team and both have a great time!

The bike tour ended where it started, which meant that we had to climb up the big hills AGAIN... from the other side, of course. By the time we hit 45 or 50 miles I was getting really tired... but we made it! Wahooo!!!

I can't believe that I actually cycled about 67 miles!!

I was really proud of my parents and sister too. My mom and sister did the 25 mile ride (which turned and avoided the big hill), and my dad attempted the hill but couldn't make it up because he wasn't feeling well. He still managed about 40 miles, which is awesome!