At the first rest stop at Soldier Hollow
Today the whole family rode in the Heber Valley Century bike ride. We did the 25-mile family version, and we all survived! I had my doubts before--how would an 18-month old handle being in the bike trailer with his sometimes bullying 3-yr old brother that long? Would 8-yr old Andrew, on his fixed gear BMX bike be able to make it? Would I be able to make it?! But it turned out to be a great ride with beautiful weather and scenery, and highly enjoyable.
Logan and Aidan were buddies in the bike trailer. Logan had a few screaming fits for the first little bit, but once he got M&Ms at the first rest stop and they got him singing the "Bob the Builder" theme song, he was great.
Brandon was a workhorse! He towed 3 kids, although Colin on the trail-a-bike helped out with pedaling a little bit. This made it so I didn't have to pull anyone (the only way I could keep up!). I brought up the rear, and was surprised to find that the hardest part was going slow enough to stay behind the kids.
We were the last group out, but ended up leap-frogging with another family who had a trailer and a young rider. It worked out great, since we ended up having our own personal SAG vehicle right behind us on the road where there wasn't much of a shoulder to ride on.
Other than a 7-mile ride together on Monday night, this was the first time we had all been out together. All the kids were great sports, and I found myself really liking it (other than a few times I was scared to death by my kids doing dumb things, like riding with "look, no hands!" next to a busy highway). I even bought a jersey for myself at the end, so maybe I'll get out there with Brandon occasionally!
The autumn colors were in full swing. There were a few times I would have loved to stop and take some pictures, but didn't want to lose our momentum (especially since the SAG car was right behind us!). We drove home over the Alpine Loop, and "ooh"ed and "ah"ed the whole way. Unfortunately I didn't get any great pictures there either, just the one above, which doesn't do justice to the colors at all.
Thank goodness for a truck to haul everything around in!p.s. You can pick up your jaw about the fact that I actually posted something now.
3 comments:
Way to go Team Eccles! I cannot believe Brandon towed all three of them! What a treasured family memory for you guys!
This is great! My brother did the 100+ miles (crazy) -- I didn't know there was a shorter family version!
I am amazed that your whole family did a 25 mile bike ride. It seems like that would take some real courage and determination to believe it could be done. I am so impressed!!!
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