Biketastic - The first half of the 2014 season

With the first half of the 2014 cycling season behind us and my legs on forced hiatus (super lame, but getting better every day) I thought this was a good time to review the first 2,000 miles of 2014! With 4 centuries, 2 girls on 2 wheels (both Sash and WanYing are two wheeling maniacs now!), 1 new bike, and a fab family ride by moonlight, this year is looking to be our most biketastic one yet.

One of the coolest things about this year is my mom's emerging interest in riding. She's been training hard and completed the 50 mile circuit at this year's Little Red in preparation to do 75 or maybe 100 together at Wonder Woman in September. It's been so fun to talk bikes and ride together when she visits Utah - the only thing better than riding is riding with somebody you love!

And Mom just got a new road bike! I like to think that our family's current pace of 1-2 new bikes per year is inspiring her :) Between her training and new wheels I better get back on the saddle soon if hope to keep up at Wonder Woman this fall.

And in case anybody's wondering how many bikes an individual needs, the answer is always (always!) one more.

During spring and early summer I had the pleasure of training with several C4C friends. Cycle 4 Cure is a group of like-minded riders who love to cycle and love to bring hope and encouragement to folks who are struggling with cancer, MS, diabetes, and other tough health situations. We pray for them, ride for them, and raise money and awareness for the diseases they fight. So maybe I should ammend my previous statement - the only thing better than riding is riding with and for somebody you love!

My big event this year was the Huntsman 140 ride. This ride wasn't in my original 2014 schedule, but it was sponsored by Qualtrics and as soon as I decided to join the company I knew I had to add another ride to the June list!

The Huntsman 140 was a tough ride.  140 miles and over 4,000 feet of climbing from Delta to Salt Lake City made it the hardest ride I've ever attempted and I was proud and grateful to cross that finish line in 10 hours.  I was also so proud to ride in memory of my mother in law and raise over $1,000 for cancer research. It was quite the day!

And right on the heels of the Huntsman 140 came BikeMS 2014 with the C4C crew! We had a great team and had representatives from the group riding all of the mileages from 25 to 100 miles. It was so much fun to see all of those C4C jerseys out on the course!

And I have to admit that I wasn't too sorry to see the end of my crazy June. Although I loved every ride, spending 6 or 8 hours in the saddle every Saturday to train or ride does make it challenging to keep up with family laundry and household chores! I definitely wouldn't have chosen a forced break like the one I'm currently recovering from, but there were nice parts about a less active July.

In the words of our ever-funny Benjamin, "Mom, I'm sorry you hurt your ankle, but I love all the TV we're watching!"

Our last major development for the first 1/2 of 2014 is a new addition to the family! A couple of weeks ago, Steve picked up a new-to-him bike from the former Sundance rental fleet and it's awesome. I think Steve's the only rider I know who is starting his road biking hobby with a full-carbon frame!

Now to find the right sized carbon frame for a five-year-old...

Sasha's Practicing Riding My Bike

by Sasha

I've been working on how fast I can go, and staying upright, and not putting my foot down, and pedal backwards to stop. I'm doing really well at going fast and staying upright and turning. The hardest part is to to stay up and keep your foot on the pedal and not to stop you riding. The easiest part is to pedal and ride.


I'm gonna ride fast to church. Dad said that when I'm really ready, like I got it, we are gonna ride to Smiths and get an ice cream or a snow cone. And I'm gonna ride it to church, the park, and to Grammy's house. Ooh and I also love riding bikes with my mommy and daddy and my whole family. And it's so far to ride my bike around the house and to my friend's house and to the park and I can't wait to show Grammy that I can ride my bike without training wheels.

I feel really happy and I like riding my bike. 

16 Years Strong

I know, I know, it doesn't seem possible but these two attractive young people have been married for sixteen - sixteen! - years. That means our marriage is now the same age as I was when Steve and I started dating. Woah.

And both despite and because of our adventures and growing experiences, trials and traumas, joys and blessings, and fun and games I am proud and grateful to confess that I love and respect this man more today than ever. Sixteen years sounds like an awfully long time, but I still feel like a 19-year-old girl giddy with the excitement of her wedding day. I hope I always do.

We celebrated our anniversary at Sundance enjoying big skies, mountain views, and our first ever Bluebird Cafe concert featuring Amy Grant! It was a blast - good music, perfect setting, and, yes, she sang both Baby, Baby and El Shaddai. It was quite the evening.

And then what did my amazing husband do? He surprised me with a full anniversary Sundance adventure! We stayed overnight in a fabulous Sundance room, spent the morning in the mountain sunshine on a lift ride, and then got massages. It was such a decadent weekend, and a wonderful celebration of sixteen fab years.

Happy anniversary to us! Can't wait to start planning for our 20th...