Goldilocks - Boise, ID

On Saturday, July 14th, Brenda and I participated in the Goldilocks All Women's bike ride in Boise.  Brenda rode the 40-mile route and I rode the 100-mile route.  Brenda was amazing, completing her ride in 4 hours including stops (and including morning sickness and pregnancy fatigue!!!)!  I completed my ride with a time of 7 hours ride time and 8 hours, 15 minutes total time!  It was a beautiful day and the the support stops and staff were wonderful!!!

Brenda and I before the ride.

Me just before the start of the ride.

Beautiful sunrise!

Some of the scenery.

Some of the scenery.

Some of the scenery.

Brenda's cheering crew (Neal was there also - You do not see him since he was the one taking all the pictures!!!

The cheering squad!

Brenda coming into the finish!

Brenda finishing with her boys cheering her on!

Brenda at the finish line!

Brenda at the finish line (Andrew and Bauer had already gone home to take naps)!

Brenda, Keagan and Deker (and Neal behind the camera) waiting for me come into the finish!

Keagan and Deker waving their "Team Smith" flags!

Me coming into the finish!

Deker cheering me on as I come to the finish line!

Brenda and I after I finished!

Me at the finish line!

Keagan, Deker and I after I finished!

Google Earth Image of the route!

3 1/2 in 2?

What have I done the last two months (well technically 7 weeks)? Besides working and building some teeter totters for family and friends, I have completed three full centery (100 mile) bike rides and a half-century ride. Here is a quick rundown of the rides.

TOUR DE ST. GEORGE - April 14 2012
The group of riders at the start line.


Beautiful scenery (and a good look at the clouds that dumped quite a bit of rain on us).


Crossing the finish line


The group of riders after we all finished.



RIDE FRIEDREICH'S ATAXIA - May 5, 2012. This was a 1/2 Century was a fundraising ride. It began and ended in Davis. It was so extremely windy that day, that I could barely keep my bike on the road, let alone try to take pictures!

EYE-Q CLASSIC - May 19, 2012
Our escort through town and down the freeway!


Riding down the freeway.


Scenery


Lunch stop (yes at the entrance of a cemetery!)


Google Earth image of the route.



LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD - July 2, 2012
At the start line and excited to get started!


We had beautiful scenery all day long!


Crossing into Idaho.


Back into Utah.


Google Earth Image of the route.


Just after we crossed the finish line and with our cheering squad!

Indoor "Skydiving"!

Last week while Neal was here visiting, I found out about this in-door skydiving place called iFLY. It is only about a one-and-a-half hour drive from Davis and it was something both of us were REALLY interested in doing. I took Friday off from work and we had an AWESOME time!
Here are some the pictures flights.

All suited up and ready to go!


There was a lady there whose husband and two young daughters were going to fly, but she was not. We asked her if she would take some pictures of us during our flights. She was kind enough to do so!
Me - Taken from outside the chamber.


Taken from inside the chamber.


Neal - Taken from outside the chamber:




Taken from inside the chamber.

Petaluma/Point Reyes Bike Ride

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get out of town for the day. Last year, Sue gave me a book called Road Biking, Northern California. I looked through the book and found a ride near Petaluma and Fort Reyes. I decided that is where I wanted to go for the day. I could not have asked for better weather. It was bright, sunny and about 65 degrees. PERFECT for a ride. The loop was 33 miles. Due to a couple steep climbs (see description below), I had and embarrassingly slow ride (about 3 1/2 hours). I still am trying to build my hill climbing strength since I will be riding several hills in the St. George Century Ride in April(which is part of the reason I choose to go there yesterday).

The start & finish of the ride.


Some scenery of the first part of the ride:




This picture does not even begin to show how steep the hill is. I had already climbed about half of it and this was part of the second half. The name of the climb is appropriator named "The Wall". It was a 2 mile climb ranging between and 8% to 18% grade!


The payoff after such a brutal climb was this amazing view (and the 25-35 mile per hour downhill ride!!!


Just some nice scenery towards the end of the ride: