2007 - It all started with the 2007 River Ride:
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| L to R: Katie, Deidre's friend, Deidre, Lisa, Me, Deb Lane |
We all showed up with our mountain bikes - OLD mountain bikes. Mine hailed from 1993 and cost $150! Deidre's bike may have been new. I just remember she rode it down a hill at 20 + miles per hour with the axel of her front wheel unscrewed. Yikes. That night we spoiled ourselves with a fabulous dinner in town (can't remember the name of the restaurant but it doesn't matter, it closed the next year). Did we also eat breakfast in our little restaurant in Tappahanock that year? I can't remember the name (Debbie Lane, where are you when I need you!?) but it brought us back every year for it's charming décor, eggs benedict, and some kind of flap jacky thing you can't get anywhere else.
2008 - Lisa, Katie, Deb L., Deidre and I rode the River Ride again. This time feeling much more confident about completing the miles. But we weren't so lucky with the weather. It thunderstormed in the early miles, pelting us with torrential rain. She didn't say, but I'm sure Lisa was cold. Making things worse, I'd lent Lisa my mountain bike not thinking about my old and frayed tires. One popped in the middle of a down pour. We fixed it, but it popped again in the first mile. We headed back to camp and bought two new tires then set off on our own, not meeting up with the rest of the crew until the end. I think we all logged about 60 miles that day. No pics. :(
Spring 2009 - MS Bike ride: In the spring, Deb L., Deidre, Lisa, Katie and I rode 110 miles in two days through the challenging hills of the Loudon County countryside to raise money for MS. Marcelle joined us for this ride! No pics - but this was our most challenging ride to date. It was also the best I have ever felt on my bike.
Summer 2009 -Next to the steep ups and downs of the VA hills, our 60 mile downhill jaunt from Leadville to Salida, CO couldn't have been more blissful.
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| Katie & I. Katie ready the conquer the world!
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And we're off.
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| This is one of my favorite pictures of us biking. |
Expansive views, perfect weather, and speed. This was the first time we all hit 40 miles per hour on our bikes. Have we ever done that since?
Here's Steve Lane! He and Ciel shared a bike, so he joined us halfway through. You can see the Leadville sign in the back: 35 miles away. But we'll keep going downhill to Salida.
And we're done. Katie gets in a quick stretch before we hit the local pub. Nothing like a cold pint after 60 miles of downhill!
July 2010 - Bike trip to DC before Deb Lane leaves us for China. Too much fun stuff in that for me to squeeze it in here, so it'll get it's own post. You can find it here.
Fall 2010 - Our first century! Lisa catalogued it on FB (thanks Lisa!).
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| the start: we are STRONG! |
After 25 miles we are still feeling strong. But we miss Deb L. Our big cabin was big and lonely without her, and Deidre too!
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| the 25 mile mark Deb L. cheers us along in spirit! |
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| the 75 mile mark |
At some point here we really slow down. Did Katie have heat stroke? We layed under a tree to cool off and let the field of riders pass us by. Too tired to take a picture of it!
I think we were the last to come back! The rest stops were closed, the riders were off in the pub. But we made it!!
Spring 2011 Bands, Bikes and the Bay. Lisa, Katie and I tried something new from Bike VA. Although we had a good time, I'd say this was a low point ride. I'd been sick the week prior and wasn't sure of my strength. The weather threatened rain (although it never happened), and we stayed in a hotel 45 minutes from the ride the night before. At the end, we debated sleeping in the gym but decided instead to come home. Lisa's favorite part was the soft shell crab dinner! Not really. I actually liked the crabs, but too bad they were fried, along with the rest of the dinner. :(
Summer 2011 - Deb Lane comes home from China for a few weeks! In her honor, we plan a ride to Harper's Ferry. 60 miles out on Saturday, 60 miles home on Sunday. On gravel. On mountain bikes. Bikes loaded. We obviously felt like we could do anything. Especially because it ends up being the hottest day of the summer. High 90s. High humidity. Code Red day. We ride the W&OD in the baking sun to White's Ferry. It's a 30 mile jaunt.
After the ferry, we hit the shade on the C&O Canal. Thank god.
But still it was so hot we stopped every five miles at the camp sites and made Katie pump water so we could sit under the spigots and let the cold water splash over us. I don't know if I've ever been so hot.
When we reached the town of Harper's Ferry and discovered our B&B at the TOP of that horrible hill in the center of town, I thought I'd die. This was one of our hardest rides for me.
It rained overnight, but that didn't really cool things off. It did, however, fill the C&O potholes with muddy water. We splashed through the mud for 30 miles. And were quite proud of our dirtiness afterwards!
This difficult ride culminated in hilly Arlington where I'm pretty sure we got lost. Before we could find the McInerny's house (where the lanes were staying), I met my match on a hill and got off to...walk.
Despite the heat and the mud, we enjoyed this ride enough to plan a family trip the next spring. Pics and details of that trip wrapped up in a different blog post about our family's spring break here.
And that catches us up to 2012!
I think we were the last to come back! The rest stops were closed, the riders were off in the pub. But we made it!!
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| the finish |
Spring 2011 Bands, Bikes and the Bay. Lisa, Katie and I tried something new from Bike VA. Although we had a good time, I'd say this was a low point ride. I'd been sick the week prior and wasn't sure of my strength. The weather threatened rain (although it never happened), and we stayed in a hotel 45 minutes from the ride the night before. At the end, we debated sleeping in the gym but decided instead to come home. Lisa's favorite part was the soft shell crab dinner! Not really. I actually liked the crabs, but too bad they were fried, along with the rest of the dinner. :(
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| but we got a great pic! each of us in our traditional biking "uniform" |
Summer 2011 - Deb Lane comes home from China for a few weeks! In her honor, we plan a ride to Harper's Ferry. 60 miles out on Saturday, 60 miles home on Sunday. On gravel. On mountain bikes. Bikes loaded. We obviously felt like we could do anything. Especially because it ends up being the hottest day of the summer. High 90s. High humidity. Code Red day. We ride the W&OD in the baking sun to White's Ferry. It's a 30 mile jaunt.
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| Deb Lane., Katie and I on the ferry. Lisa taking the pic! |
After the ferry, we hit the shade on the C&O Canal. Thank god.
But still it was so hot we stopped every five miles at the camp sites and made Katie pump water so we could sit under the spigots and let the cold water splash over us. I don't know if I've ever been so hot.
When we reached the town of Harper's Ferry and discovered our B&B at the TOP of that horrible hill in the center of town, I thought I'd die. This was one of our hardest rides for me.
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| Katie and the two debs eat breakfast at our B&B, gearing up for the ride home |
It rained overnight, but that didn't really cool things off. It did, however, fill the C&O potholes with muddy water. We splashed through the mud for 30 miles. And were quite proud of our dirtiness afterwards!
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| Katie shows off her muddy leg. And finally we get Lisa in a picture! |
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| Katie and I don't think the first picture has done enough justice to how dirty we are so we arrange a close-up |
Despite the heat and the mud, we enjoyed this ride enough to plan a family trip the next spring. Pics and details of that trip wrapped up in a different blog post about our family's spring break here.
And that catches us up to 2012!
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