The 50 Mile Bike Ride

Well, ask anyone who was there, I was cranky this morning. I was really upset about this plan. Why? Mostly because I was bummed to have my husband Karl’s time divided from me. I know that it is really silly, but with a new job comes new schedules, and my schedule change has given me less free time and less time with Karl. So, anyway, I was cranky.

And what for? The Rivalry Ride. Each year since John Curtis and Ralph Becker have been in office have held the event. They are the Mayors of Provo and SLC. The rivalry is a reference to the BYU and U of U rivalry. The outcome of the event is based on who wins the Football game that fall. The loosing teams mayor, rides to the victor’s city. BYU lost this year, therefore they road from Provo. That’s right, from Provo city center to the SLC court house. A 50 mile trip, not to be attempted by the faint of heart.

We arrived around 10, and the ride started at 10:30.

Cosmo the Cougar was at the city center, showing his support. Karen didn’t really like him, not a first anyway.

The city pulled out all the stops. Fresh fruit, juice, and even U and Y shaped donuts.

Karl was dressed in blue, to REPRESENT. He is a BYU alumni now…which is weird because so are my parents, and two of my brothers. We have never really had much BYU spirit. Maybe this is the beginning of something new. (Probably not.) Karl is signing a paper that basically says that if he dies or is seriously injured, he won’t sue the city. Good bye right to due process!

Karen’s trepidation on first meeting Cosmo disappeared. She couldn’t get enough of him as the morning progressed. She told me, “He’s a funny cougar.” When he was messing with a guy who was wearing a Utah shirt. Later she also told me, “Pips, that’s a really nice cougar.” I said, “Really? Thanks for letting me know.”

Karl and the rest of the riders fueled up with power bars, Gatorade and gel shots. All donated by the great Mad Dog bike shop. Karl attached a few to his bike, for the road. I know that this is the kind of physical event they are made for, but still, they just seem really silly. In the end, Karl had one before he left, and one on the road.

So cute. Oh man so cute. This is Karen trying to get Cosmos attention again.

He was occupied helping the Provo city mayor, John Curtis, who was also showing his support in blue.

Then at 10:30 the press conference began. Each mayor spoke. They spent some time talking about the Rivalry Ride, and about the food bank competition between the two cities. (Which SLC also won.) Still both cities had received record high donations that year. Ralph Beker, SLC mayor, also spoke out against poverty and hunger and encouraged us to remember those in need during these beautiful summer months.

As they spoke a shirt on someone in the crowd was wearing caught my eye.

MOM AND DAD,

this one is for you. It made me think of early morning walkups, and how you (MOM AND DAD) would sing this song SO loudly to get us out of bed. In fact until I saw this shirt I never even knew there were more lyrics besides, “Rise and shout the cougars are out, They’re on they’re way to fame and glory.” (That is how they sang it to us, although it is Along the trial to fame and glory.) Then they would trail off, because neither of them knew anymore of the words. It wouldn’t stop them from humming the tune however. Eventually as we got older, they would just open the door, flood our room with light and say, “Rise and Shout, time to get up.” Love you guys.I never flet so enthusiastic about being a child of two alumni.

Back to the ride, here is Karl and his bike. It is a Trek Madone. A bike that costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000. WAY above out price rang.

Zac was able to get the amazing MAD Dog Cycles to let him borrow a couple of bikes for the ride. Zac was the one who invited Karl to do this. Karl has been wanting to do a long ride for some time now, so this was the perfect opportunity. He had a great bike, lots of free power gels, and support cars all around just in case something went wrong.

The bikes the boys used are Demo bikes, so this is the kind of thing they are used for. Still there was some anxiety in my heart, and the word of Polonius, often quoted by my parents, “Never a lender of a borrower be,” came to my mind when Zac dropped off the bike. Spoiler alert, everything was fine, the bikes had no problems.

Here is Zac in his full kit. Minus the gloves of course. (wink Zac)

The time had come and the pack was ready for the ride to begin.

Cosmo, on top of his very own van watching over with a cool eye.

Camera guys ready and waiting.

Krysta and I road behind the group in her car. We were the official Mad Dog support vehicle. My cell phone number was on a list and everything. Our job was to give water and sustenance to the riders in need. Also, if there was any bike trouble along the way, we were around to help out. Krysta’s car was not only full of food, but also extra tubes, a pump and a bike stand.

Right at the start there were flats all over the place. Like this lady:

Krysta was a ninja. She changes this tire in 5 min flat.

We lost the boys for a while. This was because although the rout was smile enough, there were no markers on the road, and the map that the city had provided was USELESS.

After much searching, we found them near the point of the mountain. Zac had gone ahead to pull the Mayor up the hill, and Karl had found a place with this group of riders.

There’s my boy!

This is around mile 26.

Yeah! Karl keeping it real.

Then taking a break.

It was fun to see him. He was having such a great time! The only problem was that he was having trouble with the shifter, so he used his leg to help it along.

We found Zac, who had done some maintenance for people as well. Then came to find Karl.

We gave the boys a ride back to the pack, which was fun. It was only for a few minutes. The pack was hard to find, because the directions were so bad.

It was a gorgeous spring day though. TULIPS!

We were going slow, with the windows down listening to music and supporting the cyclists.

Here are the boys with a friend from Provo City, Phil. We met Phil at Christmas time at a small bike committee dinner, and we had actually given him a ride earlier in the day when he got a flat.

A sweet El Camino we saw on the road.

Chiquita Banana.

Just a couple of blocks away!!

Then they made it.

To the SLC court house.

It took 3 hours and 45 min!

They did it!

Celebratory cigars. Just kidding, but Slim Jims are just as awesome.

(Also side bar, you may notice on Phil’s Jersey there is an Eagle logo on his right arm. It is the logo of my company. The South Fork team is my new boss Ben’s racing team. Weird huh?)

Karen pushed the guys out of the way and made me take this picture.

When we started looking around we found that it was the day of the Green Festival. Yes, third year in a row.

Total coincidence.

We hung out for a while, bought a couple of plants for the garden, then met Logan for lunch at this local SLC dinner.

The boys were beat from the long ride that day, but Krysta and I were exhausted too from supporting them so much. Here we are, eating together and resting.