Ghost Town Riders

On Saturday my husband and I participated in our first bike tour of the year. We signed up to do the Ghost Town Riders bike tour near Tooele, Utah. We planned to go either the 50 or 65 mile distance.

Too bad the weather wasn't feeling very cooperative that morning. It was pouring buckets outside and it was very windy. But we got up early and headed to the starting point. I wasn't really sure if we would finish our ride or not. Actually, many cyclists who signed up for the ride simply showed up to pick up their bag of goodies and commemorative T-shirt and then they left.

That's not how we roll at the Honey House! We signed up, so we were going to ride, by golly! (Come hell or high water... or headwinds and huge puddles as the case may be). Here we are just before we left on beginning of our ride.

Here we are in our rain gear. Fun, huh?

As we set off it was raining, and my feet were soaked within a few miles. My cycling tights were awesome though, and my legs didn't really get wet. Too bad I can't say the same for my hands, feet, face, etc. It was cold and wet and miserable. Honey Daddy and I couldn't go nearly as fast as we usually do because the headwind was so bad. My least favorite part was when semi trucks would pass by and the wind blew their spray directly at us. Sometimes the wind was so strong I was afraid it would tip me over.

But we made it to the first rest stop and decided to keep going. Eventually the rain stopped, although the wind never did. Somehow every time we turned another direction, the wind shifted. I know I sound like one of those "uphill both ways" stories, but I swear we had a headwind our entire ride!

Here is what the weather looked like just before we made it to the second rest stop for lunch.

Beautiful day for a bike ride!

By this point we had given up on going 65 miles, but we were halfway done with the 50 mile ride. As we ate lunch the winds shifted from the south/southwest to north/northwest. Yippee! A headwind the rest of the way.

Did I mention that at the second rest stop they had a fire?

At this point quite a few cyclists gave up and had the support crew take them back to the start. My husband and I decided that we were halfway there and we could finish this ride. So we left after lunch, facing a headwind and going uphill. By the time we got to the last rest stop I was almost ready to quit. I wasn't having any fun... but I decided that I could do it and I kept on. I am glad I did because if I gave up I would have missed the best part of the ride.

The sun came out, the winds died down a little, and we got to go downhill fast! We made it to the end, when most people just gave up and went home.

Honey Daddy and I joked that this bike tour will make our next one seem much more enjoyable and easy by comparison. I am proud that we managed to finish even in a deluge. It proves to me that even when things get difficult, I can do it!

By the way, I lost 1.5 pounds last week. So I am on track for my 20 pounds in 20 weeks goal.