Ride 4 Life

In May, riding a euphoric wave from our Clean Air Challenge ride, Team Aurora Bikealis signed up for the 120 mile Ride for Life charity ride benefiting colorectal cancer. The R4L is a 2 day ride from Anchorage to Seward.

It sounded good at the time, and we figured we'd all train hard and be in killer shape for the grueling first day climb over Turnagain pass.

But life, and in my case laziness, happens and our training didn't quite work out as planned. Only 3 team members were ultimately able to make this ride: Piper, Jeff and myself. Ally and Scout were both out of state and unable to join us (congrats Scout on making Captain!!!), but were in frequent cell phone contact cheering us on. Mama Lama had her hands full with our favorite monkey, and wasn't able to run support this time - but she was in our thoughts the whole way. My loverboy Rocky drove Jeff and Terri's RV - I thought camping would be just fine....but it was SOOOOO nice to have a warm, dry rig to sleep in.


The weather in Anchorage has been lousy this summer. Little to no sun and cold temperatures have become the norm around here, and the forecast for this trip looked pretty bleak. We packed for rain and I for one just assumed we would be cold, wet and miserable the entire weekend, but we'd get through it. Miraculously, a drop never fell while we were cycling, and the second day was downright sunny. Yes, it was hilly (they don't call it a mountain pass for nothing) and yes it was windy (should you really have to pedal going downhill to keep from stopping?), but it was a drop dead gorgeous ride - possibly one of the best I have ever been on.

Jeff at Turnagain pass - smiling hard after cruising up that 6 mile climb.

Piper stretching out for the next leg from Turnagain Pass to Ingram Creek

Twerp's one handed rolling self portrait - kiddies, don't try this at home

A little Video blogging along the way

This video is proves 4 things: Jeff doesn't really need handlebars, Twerp should keep her day job, Piper's helmet doesn't fit when it is on straight, and Alaska is one beautiful place.

Day 2 - Sunshine!


A quick clip as we pass the turn off for Kenai.

Victory! Bikes raised in celebration on the lawn outside of the SeaLife Center in Seward.