Triple Bypass

It went something like this:
Andy said,"Do you want be in a bike ride in July?" And I said, "Sure, sounds like fun." Next thing I know we are on a team training to ride 120 miles over 3 mountain passes. Our team is Champions for Children and our focus is raising money for the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center (the firm Andy works for). This year the team raised almost $70,000 for the Law Center. Some of you may be asking why a law firm needs donations. The Law Center is a non profit organization that provides legal services for at-risk and maltreated children.

Andy and I bought new road bikes in January and then stared at them until April when it was finally warm enough to start riding outside. Once summer started we were in full training and it pretty much took over all our free time. The Triple Bypass is supposedly one of the hardest one day rides in the United States. It starts in Evergreen, CO and goes over Squaw Pass, Loveland Pass and Vail Pass. One hundred and twenty miles later you end just west of Vail in Avon, CO. Over the course of the ride you gain 10,310 feet in elevation. Andy and I really enjoyed training together. Most of the time we were good about encouraging one another but, I have to admit there were times that our competitive
natures got the best of us.

I found out that I was pregnant about 4 weeks prior to the ride. My doctors said it was fine to ride since I had already been training. We made the decision that I would take a break in the middle so I must admit that I only rode 90 out of the 120 miles. We started at 6 am and finished about 12 hours later (that included 3 hours of break time). It was a great accomplishment and something we will probably never do again, although I keep thinking about that 30 miles- I may have to go back and prove I can do the whole thing.

To all of you who contributed to our fundraising, THANK YOU. Our team is still intact and we will be participating in other (easier) rides next spring and summer.