Weekend Ride in Thatcher

Last Saturday we took a trip to Thatcher, ID to visit my parents. Originally, we thought that we'd be a party of four (Rebekah, Kayla, Heidi and myself), but then Rebekah had to bail at the last minute. She won the bid on a Mazda 3 that had been posted on ebay. So she ended up having to drive to Colorado to go get the thing. She's such a copy cat. We buy tour bikes . . . then she has to buy a tour bike. We buy a Mazda 3 . . . then she has to buy a Mazda 3. Anyway, it was too bad that Rebs couldn't make it because we had an awesome ride Saturday evening up in Thatcher. Check the scenic photos.

Heidi tested out loaded riding for a while.



Heidi and Kayla found some buffalo by the river.


It was just a gorgeous evening.

~ 13 Miles Last Night

Biking this week has been pretty good. Tuesday we took a scenic ride in Smithfield Canyon. Five of us went: Heidi, Janae, Kayla, Alicia and myself.

Janae was a good sport. She rode my dad's old '70s vintage 10-speed. What a trooper! The picture to the left is Janae telling Alicia and I how the front wheel seemed like it was going to wobble off of the bike when we were descending out of the canyon.

Check out the photo of Janae and the 1970s Sears 10-speed. How stoked is she to be riding on such a classic setup? It was a blast having her along for the ride. It was also fun to get to know Kayla's friend from work, Alicia.

Thanks to Heidi for being the photographer for the past couple of rides. She took several self portraits - many of her with her beloved leopard print saddle.

Heidi and I pedaled about 13 miles last night. Kayla also went with us - probably pedaled a couple miles fewer since we met with her about 2 miles into the ride. That gives us a total of about 35 miles this week. With the ride we have planned for tomorrow (Sat.) the week should total around 60.


Here's a nice shot of Kayla enjoying the sunset last night.

We are trying to build up to a 100 mile weekend tour. We'll basically ride from Logan, UT to Thatcher, ID where my parents live. We'll probably leave on a Friday or Saturday and come home Sunday. We are looking to do that ride sometime in the first part of July.

Yesterday during lunch Kayla, Heidi and myself brainstormed about the preparations for the TransAmerica Trail tour that we are planning to ride next summer. Our plan is to get about 15-20 of our best friends to take the tour with us. Each of us would be on a different model touring bike from an array of manufacturers. Manufacturers will provide equipment in exchange for free publicity and product review. It'll give our group a chance to put these bikes to the test in an actual fully-contained tour situation.

The first step in this whole process is to get a magazine on board to publish our story. We'll probably be getting in contact with several publications pretty soon.

Tomorrow we are going up to Thatcher to ride around. So far it looks like it'll be me, Heidi, Kayla, and Rebekah. Should be a good time.