Today was Lotoja- a section I have ridden a few times.  However, today was awesome.  Dave (who is on his first year of riding) did incredible once again- he is a natural.  I love being able to push through the pain and climb the mountains - it was great to ride up Geneva with Golden and Salt River with Gary.  Having someone to push you and coach you along makes all the difference in the world and to see those ahead doing the same made me smile.  Mike was honored with the GREEN 51 jersey today and he had the magic as he pedaled along.  As we made it to Afton the longest stretch for me starts- it is about 40 miles of headwind in scary conditions however today I beat all my time records due to the strong work-horses up front who blocked the wind.  It was all I could do to hold on.   There is always someone faster and someone slower....BUT at the end of the day being able to ride your bike is a BLESSING!  

I was really nervous to ride Monte Cristo - as I had a horrible experience last year.  However, this year things went much better.  I was proud to hang with the group until the pitch changed- then I was just happy to see them in my sights.  There are some amazing climbers in this group.  I thought the top was 24.5 miles...so at 25 miles I was going a little MENTAL....and at this point I lost sight of any fellow riders.  As the miles continued and the false summits continued I was just about to stop (and maybe cry a little) when I started to think of Dave Sperry who is still fighting strong and all the other ANGELS I have pulling for me in heaven and at that moment a HUGE STRONG tailwind came in behind me and pushed/carried me for awhile.  It made me realize how small I am and how lucky I am to be able to ride with those I love and to ride for those who cannot.  My dad was honored with the GREEN 51 jersey today and the magic came through his legs as well.  Today was the MOST scared I have been-- we had to ride through cattle being herded up the mountain and the cow pies were not the scary part it was riding through cows that are much LARGER than I who were giving me the evil eye- I was happy to have Dad in front of me and Dave behind me- but WOW my heart got into zone 5 in a hurry due to the fear.  

As we got to the back side of Bear Lake the cross winds were killing me and Larry came and gave me the special spot that I rode the rest of the day - as we hit the rollers behind the lake I wasnt sure what Larry was thinking having me up front pulling with him at a crazy pace- it sure caught up to me later- but amazed at how having encouragement from such a good group of riders and those we ride for makes it easy to dig deep and find more to keep pushing.  Oh and knowing I have my dads genes in me somewhere sure helps.

The best was Dave ordering chile-verde for dinner and it looked just like the cow pies we were desperately trying to avoid on our bicycles??  

There is soo much love and inspiration in this group-it is an honor to be part of it.

Today was a beautiful day.  I pushed to my limits again.....but it was incredible.  I often remind myself how lucky I am to be alive and to be able to ride with such an amazing group of people and ride for an amazing group of people.  Riding with my dad is one of my favorite things in the world to do.  Today Brad wore the green jersey and was super fast (I think the one in the jersey has special powers).  After two climbs I was feeling good to get up and over Trappers - the encouragement from my fellow riders was inspiring.  I was very HAPPY to roll i