A Bike Race Called El Doce

A Bike Race Called El Doce

• 7.23.2019

Last weekend: Carnegie Hall in New York.  This weekend: a twelve hour relay style bike race in the Rocky Mountains.

I can't help laughing at myself.  All those personal healthy habits I've been working on all summer suddenly got thrown away this month.  I've eaten way too much sugar, gained three pounds, and haven't gotten nearly enough sleep, but I'm not letting myself feel even a twinge of guilt because this is what living life to its fullest looks like for me right now.

Bron and I packed up the truck and the kids with us and headed down to Ogden, Utah on Friday night to meet friends for the El Doce bike race at Powder Mountain.

We used Bron's points for a suite style hotel room.  As we were unpacking, I just had to Polo my sister about the room we were staying in; quite a drastic difference from our hotel in Manhattan.  When I hung up, I realized Conrad was not there.  "Did Conrad just leave?" I asked in disbelief.  That toddler is Harry Houdini re-incarnated, I swear.  So Bron took off down the hall one way while I took off down the hall the other way.  Luckily, Bron found Conrad fairly quickly... riding the elevator.  Of course!  Conrad was having the time of his life pushing allll the buttons.  It took a while for Bron to catch the elevator, but when he did, Conrad's fun stopped immediately and some fear about not seeing Mommy ever again instilled in his little head.  But probably not.  Conrad is two, forgets quickly, and has no fear.  So even though I hope Conrad never runs away again, he probably will.  The whole scenario was stressful then, but hilariously funny now.  Whew!

We tried to rescue the evening by going out to eat at a pizza place down street.  Dinner was a fail.  I mean, the food was great but it took more than an hour to be delivered to our table.  To sum it up, everyone was feeling and acting hangry.

So with our tummies full, I took the boys swimming at the hotel pool.  Finally, a success!  Because the pool was so small and shallow, I decided to take Conrad's life jacket off to hopefully instill some realization that he can't swim on his own just yet.  Conrad immediately jumped right into deep end!  I grabbed his foot and scooped him up.  No problem.  Conrad had held his breath and was all smiles.  He then continued to throw a ball and jump in after it over and over again.  Each time, he would kick his eyes to the surface but just couldn't quite get his nose and mouth above water.  Conrad is totally getting survival/swimming lessons as soon as school starts.  While we were there, Levi practiced swimming laps.  Then he did countless push ups.  He was determined to wake up sore in the morning!  Haha.  It worked.  The pool was a fun way to end the night for all of us.

So yeah, vacationing with kids in a nutshell.

And then... we were all up to see the sun rise at the top of Powder Mountain.          

 ^^Drop dead gorgeous views all around!^^

 ^^My goodness, these yellow wildflowers as far as the eye could see made my heart happy!^^

I enthusiastically took on the challenge to participate with Bron, Bryce, and Clay on a four man relay mountain biking team.  We each took turns biking a 14 mile loop... at 8,000 feet elevation.  The entire goal of the El Doce race is to see how many loops our team could do in about twelve hours.  The answer is 7.5.  Not too bad for a bunch of middle aged amateurs, right?  Lol.    

We brought coolers of food and set up day camp next to Clay's super nice super duty popup trailer.  And then we talked and ate and rested and chased kids and waited to ride.

The trail was a blast!  Every time I came around a turn, I was greeted with another spectacular view.  The race track wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy either, especially while pedaling my little heart out at such high elevation.  The dusty hair pin turns were a bit of a challenge too, but it was all do-able in a very fun way.

My second lap, I was on fire!  I was totally in the zone knowing what to expect on the trail.  Then around mile five, my stomach seized up.  It started as a side ache on my right side and then spread throughout my entire midsection.  I could feel every single bump.  I couldn't breathe.  I stopped and got off my bike.  I couldn't stand up straight it hurt so bad!  It took about ten minutes for the pain to subside into something bearable.  I have never in my life felt a side stitch like that.  I continued on for about two more miles but realized I was physically and more importantly mentally, out of the game.  So at the halfway point, I decided to call it a good try and I hiked my bike up the hill to the parking lot.  I figured if I continued, I'd probably wind up hurting myself.  I was riding our team's last possible lap and so quitting halfway wasn't going to hurt our team.  But I was bummed.  And disappointed in myself, of course.  In retrospect, I was probably dehydrated and a little over heated from being in the sun all day.  So next time: better nutrition and shade!  I know I've totally got this.          

^^Clay coming in from his first lap.^^

 ^^Levi and Auggie becoming fast friends.^^

After my initial ride, the boys were ready for a change of scenery, so I took them to the Eccles Dinosaur Park.  It was a hit for all the boys.  Conrad's favorite part was the outdoor park and searching for all the speakers that made animal and nature sounds along the walkway.  I often turned around to see him ducking under the railing.  "Look!  A speaker!" he would exclaim proudly.  I guess those were more interesting than giant dinosaurs.

 ^^All four in the frame.  We took our friend Easton along with us.^^

 ^^Jed is so detail oriented and patient.  It's an amazing quality.^^

^^Conrad collecting all the brushes.^^

Back at the race...

 ^^Bryce completing his second lap in the heat of the day.^^

 ^^Bron bravely heading out for his second lap!^^

^^Clay catching some zzzz's^^

 ^^Conrad found water to play in!^^

^^Cruising down hill.^^

I'm so glad Bron and I get to share this hobby together.