The Excellent Exhausting Adventure!

 This is the guy who got us into it! David was out of town when he got a call from our friend Chuck inviting us to go for a bike ride with him and his wife, Elaine. David thought it would be fun so he called me and asked me about it and I too thought it would be fun. The hitch was that it was a moonlight ride beginning at 10pm  for 22 miles at Antelope Island. It still sounded fun. So with our buy in, I was to meet Chuck so he could size this beautiful tandem bike to us and give me a little ride around the block with him just to get the feel of a tandem. He had helmets for us and gloves. David had 2 pair of biker stretchy pants so we were set.

David was to fly in on Friday night at 7 and we would go home, change clothes and be at the Island in time for the ride. Well.....the plane got in at 8 and we hustled home for him to change and by 8:30 we were at Chuck and Elaine's. We loaded their two tandems on their car and off we went to what we thought would be a fun and not too challenging ride. It was fun to see all the people who had decorated their bikes with glow sticks. The island was closed to everyone but the hundreds of bike riders. We unloaded, got some instructions from Chuck on how best to manage the bike together and off we went. We got in the groove quickly and loved the experience of riding together under the moon and stars. We felt confident at our aging abilities and we passed more people than passed us by far just because we could and it was fun! After the first 11 miles we were glad to see the refueling station which was a large barn loaded with fruit cups, drinks, granola bars and bananas. We needed them. It had been a pretty long haul and by no means a flat terrain. We rested and refreshed then started up the long climb up the mountain heading back to the start. This climb was a test for everyone. Many people were walking and those of us riding were huffing and puffing and you could hear the sound of the exertion from everyone around. The trail of lights before us seemed to go on forever up the mountain! "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" I said to myself wondering if we would make it without getting off the bike. "Don't quit and don't look ahead" I counseled myself. "It's easy" I told myself. Push, push, push. Then with great determination we conquered the mountain! 22 miles of riding from the two of us who had never before taken a long ride like that in our lives and doing it in the dark and on a tandem to boot! Excuse me if I say I am really proud of us. All that time in the gym paid off. We got off the bikes at about 1:30 am and were in bed by 3:00am. I almost felt like a teenager, staying out all night.The pictures below were taken the next day after we had cleaned the church at 8am!.

We earned those tee shirts by the sweat of our brows! Can't wait for the next ride. Hopefully, on a gentler trail! Here's to the late sixty somethings!