Campbell Family: A Family That Bikes Together, Stays Together!

It's not everyday that we get to take a bike ride around Utah Lake, but Paul and I joined with a couple other thousand riders and finished the ULCER, Utah Lake Century Epic Ride. Paul is a more experienced and ambitious rider then I am so he's done a 100 mile bike ride before, but this was my first time. I must say that it was so awesome and won't be my last. We started off the morning bright and early and left with the first wave of people at 6:30 a.m. Paul was able to get us a really good starting time. I wanted to start as early as we could because I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me, and I wanted to finish before the course closed at 5 p.m. I rode with Paul for the first 1/4 mile (if that!!) and then he kept a much faster pace at the front of the pack. I, however, rode at my own pace and was all alone with my thoughts for the most part. I made a few friends on the ride, one guy in particular who called me "Number Five" (my number was 1005), and we rode a few spurts together here and there. I think the hardest part of the ride for me was right before the half way rest stop when the course took us through Genola (I'm familiar with the town because my grandparents lived there). It was really windy and hot, and it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. But, when I finally made it to the rest stop, it felt good to relax and recharge. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich has never tasted so good! Paul said the hardest part for him was the end because his arms were cramping from being in the same position so long. But all of our hard work was more then rewarding when we crossed the finish line. What a great feeling of accomplishment! Paul finished the 107 miles in 5 hours 27 minutes. I finished at 6 hours 30 minutes.