Ride the Rockies Memories - 2005

My 2005 Ride the Rockies was the first one I got to do with Lizard. We still had the lottery back then, and both of us were shocked when we were drawn on his first attempt. It had taken me five years to get drawn the first time!

Back then, the way to get drawn, apparently, was either sending your registration via Fed Ex, or using some real creativity on the snail mail envelope. That's how I finally got drawn the first time, in 2003. I freehand drew with a black Sharpie the gorgeous 2003 oriental bike logo on a hot pink envelope.

For 2005, I used photos from my 2003 Ride the Rockies. As I recall, I think our bib numbers (which I'm sure I still have somewhere because I don't typically throw them away, but I can't find them!!!) were 111 and 112, meaning we were pretty near if not actually in the top 100 best envelopes!!!




The 2005 Ride the Rockies was just seven months after my emergency back surgery. While looking back through photos I used for the slideshow I presented at the office where I work that year, I kept wondering why I had included so many goofy pictures of me alone in 2004.

Now I remember! My co-workers were invested in seeing me successfully complete the ride because there were times in 2004 when none of us thought I'd ever be able to ride again. They wanted to see how I got back on my bike again. I orchestrated the slideshow to visualize the timeline, going from climbing five 14ers in 2003 and 10 the following year to barely able to move by the end of October 2004. Then I threw in a bunch of favorite 2005 photos because, well, you'll see the reason for that in the next paragraph...

The 2005 Ride the Rockies probably was too soon for me to try so many miles so quickly, but now, I proudly pump air fists while proclaiming I did it! I did have to SAG part of one day because highway construction along the Blue Mesa proved just a bit too bumpy for my still-tender back. But I pedaled every single other mile. With (or far behind because I'm so much slower) my best friend, who became my husband 10 days later! (Lizard would always be one of the first riders to reach each town, where he would select a primo camping spot and set up the tent, then pedal back up a mountain to finish up each day's ride with me.)

I've since had new versions of the back health challenges during two more Ride the Rockies, and now Lizard is the one working through significant challenges. Ride the Rockies is a HUGE goal, one we are not sure he will ever be able to achieve again. But memories like these keep us trying!

Tweet

Pin It