The Cool Kids Club

Last year Brett and I trained for the Salem Triathlon. They had changed the bike course back to the original bike course that took you up Payson Canyon to Kiwanis Park, and then back again into Salem to start the run.

We would ride out and back and I thought I was amazing, riding up those hills. I mentioned once to a neighbor that we had ridden up Payson Canyon and he asked me if we had ridden the switchbacks. I told him "No" and he kind or shrugged his shoulders. I remember thinking - What a jerk. I rode up Payson Canyon, I should be part of the Cool Kids Club.

Well, this week, I proved that I was not amazing last year. I needed to get 47 miles in for my long ride. It was my intention to ride 23 up and then come back and ride an easy mile back on the flats. Well, 2 hours and 15 minutes into my ride, I was 21 miles up, I had reached 7,000 feet and I was still climbing. I knew I had to be back at the house because it was "Grandparent's Day" at school and I thought Sydney was going to be checked out early so I needed to be home just in case. I was climbing at a mere 5MPH, and another 2 miles would take me forever. I was afraid that if I continued, I would be on the bike for 4 hours and miss my in-laws.

So, I turned around and flew down the mountain. My hands were killing me from gripping the handlebars and the breaks for 8 miles. What took me an hour and a half to climb, only took me 1/2 hour to descend. (I should have gone the extra 2 miles up).

I have now inducted myself into "The Cool Kid's Club". Thank you very much.

And just to put this all in to perspective, a few weeks ago, Brett and I had traveled up Payson Canyon, by car, to watch the Tour of Utah, a professional bicycle race. We misjudged the timing of these men and we missed them all. They rode 77 miles in just over 3 hours, and I only rode 42 in the same amount of time. Thus, my induction into the 'KID'S' club, not the 'MEN'S' club.

*Brett followed suit on Saturday. He rode a little farther than I did. I tease him that he was just trying to one-up me. He disagrees. Nevertheless, I'm proud of him.