Ride for Life Pictures

Me at the first rest stop on saturday

Pam along Turnagain Arm

The view along Turnagain Arm

Finally in Seward on Sunday

Spencer Glacier on the train ride home

I had a fantastic weekend, making my way from Anchorage to Seward on my road bike in the Ride for Life. Saturday started out sunny and warm, and Pam and I took off from Anchorage with 140 other riders around 8am. Unfortunately our small disaster of the weekend happened only 12 miles out of Anchorage. While enjoying the scenery (and not looking at the pavement) along the Seward Highway, Pam hit a large rock and blew her front tire. We quickly changed her tube and kept riding, not realizing that she had punctured her tire as well. Luckily the tube got her all the way to Ingram Creek, 50 miles into the ride. Our friend Robin from REI was there manning the rest stop and when we mentioned the flat to him he suggested that we check the pressure in the tire. Well, when pumped up to 100psi the tube exploded and we then noticed the hole in the tire. We did learn from the experience: One, don't hit large rocks with your road bike, and two: if you fold up a dollar bill and put it inbetween the tube and the tire it keeps the tube from poking out through the hole in the tire and exploding! Luckily the dollar bill patch got Pam all the way to Seward and we had no more flat tire incidents.
We camped Saturday night at Summit Lake Lodge, 75 miles from Anchorage. We had a great feast, including a whole roast pig and live music. After dinner there was a short program focusing on cancer. There were several cancer survivors doing the ride, as well as a few riders who were still undergoing treatment. At one point they had all the people who have known someone with cancer stand up; I don't think there was one person there that remained sitting. As a group of 145 people we raised a total of $40,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
The weather Sunday was not as nice as Saturday, and we were a little worried that it would rain the whole 45 miles to Seward. We did have about 30 minutes of rain at the beginning but it stopped and was plesant the rest of the way. There was only one rest stop along the way but we were very glad to see that Robin and his fiance Kristin were boiling up water for hot cocoa. Since we were not in much of a hurry to get to Seward, Pam and I spent about half an hour there. We got to Seward around lunchtime and had a few hours to enjoy ourselves. The ride ended at the Alaska Sealife Center so after we cleaned up and changed our clothes we spent some time there looking at the animals and learning about some of the research they are doing. Later in the afternoon we met my friend Seth for some lunch and then boarded the train for the ride back to Anchorage. Neither Pam nor I had ever taken the train from Seward and it was a great trip. The route that the train takes deviates from the road and goes past 6 large glaciers. We were lucky to see a big black bear from the train, as well as a few moose. It was a very relaxing, if somewhat slow, way to get home. Unfortunately it is now back to the real world, at least until next weekend. Check back later this week, and I'll try to post some pictures from the ride!

I went to log in to my account today and I couldn't even remember what my login name was. I guess that means it's been awhile. I wonder if anyone is still checking to see if I'm alive. This has been one of the busier summers that I can remember, and I'm having trouble with the fact that it is already mid-July. What happened to June? Life just keeps plugging away. I'm getting busier and busier as more of my friends come home for the summer, and I keep adding new activities to my life. The latest has been rock climbing, which I manage to squeeze in among the two jobs and numerous activities I'm already doing with friends. Sarah is coming home on Thursday which will be great incentive to actually sit down and knit. Its so hard to motivate to sit inside for an afternoon when it is beautiful outside, as it has been most of the summer here. I have managed to almost finish my second pair of socks for the summer. My next project is going to be working on my Dale sweater for myself. I need to frog the body (wahhhh!!!) but my goal is to do that and get it done before I leave so that I can use my moms sewing machine to secure where I have to cut it.
Part of the reason my june and july seem to have gone so fast was my big wedding trip at the end of June. I guess I am of the age now where all my friends are starting to get married. I was a guest at my friend Liz's wedding in Oakland, and then the next weekend maid of honor at Katie's wedding in Seattle. Maid of Honor duty is hard work! But we pulled it off and had a lot of fun. Here we are on our way to the wedding (No limos for us, we walked!)