ATeam @ RTR

Saturday's Ride
Contributor - Anna McLoon)

I was a bit apprehensive going into camp; what if the team decided that I’m a nut and that they didn’t want to ride with me? Luckily, it turns out that our team is an awesome group of women, and were totally friendly even though I’d never met them all before. SO, I was quite excited Saturday to put on my cool new Altarum kit and to get ready to ride! The plan was to get some solid riding in on some of the rolling roads surrounding the ranch, and we did a good job of doing just that!The weather was cooler than we’d anticipated (I flew south, so goshdarn it, it should have been warmer than home!) but after adding abunch of jackets and vests and armwarmers, we rolled out into thesunshine.

We started with a long, twisty descent off the mountain,which was quite fun. Then, for several hours we wound our way between farms and streams and cliffs and mountains. I think everyone enjoyed the weather and the opportunity to watch cows and horses and hawks and deer and woodchucks scampering around at the sides of the road. I was glad to note that several of my new teammates also enjoy trying to identify birds from the bike saddle, even if it can be a bit hard todo at 18 miles per hour!

We stopped several times during the ride, once at an artisans cooperative (not open) for some team pictures and a chance to sit onan antique tractor (and we even made the local paper) and then anothertime for drinks and snacks. And, I shouldn’t forget about the hills.Jay Moglia from Raw Talent Ranch was showing us the best roads andthought we probably climbed 8,000-9,000 feet over the course of the ride.

And, of course we saved the best for last. The last half-hour or so of the ride was climbing up the steeper side of the mountain we so energetically rode down in the morning. It was a tough climb, butsuper fun, too. Each time we rounded a corner or climbed up aswitchback, we thought “OK this has to be the last one” but then there was another…and another. As we got higher and higher up the mountain,we started to have awesome views of the valley below, and knowing that some tasty food was waiting for us at the barn gave me that much more incentive to hurry back up. I definitely wanted to be the first one back so I could take the first shower! Of course, I was so anxious toget a snack and a shower that I went flying past the barn…by a couple miles…SO in the end, I was the last person back, BUT I can happily report that there was still hot water and I just had less long to waitbetween riding and dinner! .