Little Red - My First Organized Ride

This weekend I participated in my first organized bike ride, Little Red Riding Hood.  It was a perfect introduction to the world of organized rides - an easy breezy 36 miles in 75-degree sunshine through gorgeous Cache Valley with a dear friend surrounded by very fun women who all enjoy cycling as much as I do.  Completely perfect!

Together the 3,500 riders raised over $100,000 for the Huntsman Cancer Institute! Oh, and there was ice cream at the end.

Here's a link to our Pro shots - we look so fabulous and athletic!

Since the ride was 2 1/2 hours away in Northern Utah, we decided to camp the night before up in the Lewiston Fairgrounds where they provided free camping for any rider who wanted it (did I mention this event was awesome?!?).  It was the friendliest, nicest field camping that we've ever done, and an easy walk from not one but two playgrounds - all of the Morningstars had a fine time indeed.

The ride's theme this year was Bollywood, which made for great food, colorful costumes, entertaining dancing, and a whole lot of fun.  WanYing, Sasha, and I all enjoyed wearing our bindis and added even more bling to our weekend with glitter tattoos.

This is the 26th annual Little Red ride and every year the guys show up in force to staff the event.  They also dress up.  Terrifying?  Yep.  But also very entertaining.  I have to say that this weekend I beheld the most attractive men in saris I've ever seen.  Admittedly, that list is short, or was until this weekend.

My friend Cynthia from church was a fantastic co-rider and we were well matched.  It was really fun to ride with a friend.

Of course, we weren't allowed to take photos without our little future riders in the shot!

While the mommies rode the daddies watched the kids.  I'm pretty sure that included a lot of sitting in the shade drinking mojitos while the kids played on the playgrounds.  But the time definitely wasn't squandered since Sasha perfected her monkey bar traverse over the course of the afternoon.

There were 3,500 riders this year, but they staggered the starts so that the course was never too busy.  Since we were riding a paltry 36 miles, we got to start late in the morning and enjoyed a sunny, warm (but not too warm) couple of hours of riding.

We finished in 2:20, which wasn't too shabby.  We didn't push hard, but we weren't lollygaggers, either, and I'm happy with our time.

And the fenders got lots of compliments :)

But I have to admit that this fantastic first experience with organized rides may have created a monster... I signed up for a century (that's 100 miles) in October!  Time to start training!