Birthday Bike Tour: The Heber Valley Century

Towards the end of last week, Joe and I were gearing up for our next bicycle tour. Each evening after Joe got home from work I went on a bike ride. We got our final Nashbar order delivered, which was a good thing because it had a long-sleeved jersey for me and a pair of clip shoes. Jacob decided that he wanted to be part of the action too. He insisted that I put my jersey on him, and then later I found him wearing the shoes. What a goof!



















Then on Friday evening our visitors arrived. Jacob was very excited to see Grandpa and Grandma Heiner. He wanted to see Aunt Shannon and Jalene too, as long as "their dogs won't get me with their tongues!" I thought that was pretty funny.

That evening we got everything ready for the next day. I tried out the clip pedals and shoes, but apparently I need some more practice with them. I managed to fall flat on my face... twice. So we switched back to my regular pedals and got my bike back in order.

Then bright and early on my birthday we were headed to Heber City for the Heber Valley Century. Joe and I signed up to do the metric century (100km) ride, Shannon and Mom had signed up for the 25 mile ride, and Dad signed for the 50 mile ride.

It was a beautiful day. We left the boys with Jalene, even though she would liked to have been able to ride with us too. Unfortunately for her she had already promised to watch the kids for us. We got to the start of the ride just 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!

Joe 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 Joe 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 Joe 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 that Joe 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. There were plenty of rest stops where we could take a break, and they even had lunch for us. At the stop where we had lunch all the cyclists were "hitching" their bikes to the post in an interesting way, so I took a picture. Check it out:


The bike in the front is Joe's, and mine is right behind it. Fun, huh?

Joe 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 Joe. 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!! Here we are at the finish.


I was really proud of my family too. Mom and Shannon finished the 25 mile ride (which turned and avoided the big hill), and 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!

We drove home that afternoon and then went out to dinner for my birthday. After that we all just sat around because we were so tired! It was a good day, even if it was a bit of an unusual thing to do on my birthday.

Apparently we are all addicted to cycling because that weekend we all just kept talking about what tour we want to do next! I was surprised that I didn't really get very sore at all. I do have a very interesting tan line on my arms because I was wearing gloves... so my tan stops right at my wrists!