FINALLY our ride has come... and sadly it has gone. Little Red was a complete success this year. My sister rocked it out big time! She and I had a fantastic time together. Unfortunately, she had to go home today. So sad, but now it is time to blog about our fantastic time together!
So I have decided to just use normal names for this blog. Nickie arrived to my house last Thursday (June 3rd) at about 4:00 or so. I was so happy to see her. That night we went to Zumba and had a blast and then came home and watched 'So you think you can dance'. That was just a wonderful evening.
The next day was Friday (the 4th). We went to a million places that day. We bought some fabric because we wanted to make costume skirts for the Wonder Woman themed bike ride, but that turned out to be really frustrating. We also bought some beading supplies and stuff to make a fantastic pasta dinner. Stacey even came over and the three of us beaded, cooked, tried to sew, and got our bikes ready for the ride. We had to pick up packets that night too and Nickie and I ended up buying some super cute athletic items from a booth called Born Fit. Nick got a very cute teal jacket that zips up the side and I got a super cute running skort that is brown and pink. I can't wait to wear it to Zumba! We both realized we spent money that we shouldn't have. I kind of upset B by purchasing the skort. Sorry B.
When we got back we ended up staying up till about 1:00 AM just getting all of our crap ready. Nick and I still managed to leave our water bottles on the kitchen table when we left for our ride. Fortunately we had put a protein shake in the water bottles that we did remember, so we just didn't have water for the first 12 miles of the ride.
At the second stop we met up with Stacey and her Mom. Below is a photo of me and Stacey together. She can pull of ANY color of hair. Look at how cute that purple hair is on her!!!
Below here is the 3 of us. We are just such beautiful babes! I really would love to travel back in time and do it all over again!
And here is just me and my sister. I love that girl. I look like a complete fat face in this photo, but I am a fat face with my cute sister! I need to mention again just how awesome she did on this ride! She did have me worried, and I will tell you why later!
Below here is Stacey with her mom. Aren't they gorgeous? They have the same eyes. How fun that they can do this together.
The action photo below is Nickie coming up a hill. This year she never stopped and said 'It just keeps going and going'. She had a better bike and better skills for this ride. I am so proud of this woman!
Awe, isn't she cute?
We stopped for lunch at like mile 36. Before we ate I saw this cute English Bulldog. Her name is Sophie and she is 9 years old. She is so cute! Her dad was a proud dog owner and was very nice to let me take this photo and love up on her a bit.
Look at that face!
During lunch Nick took a moment to ponder life's larger mysteries.
Deep in thought...
And that is the last photo I took on the ride. Nickie and I thought that we ate a good lunch. Turns out we were wrong. This is where she started to worry me. After lunch there was a 4 mile climb. It wasn't steep, but we were riding into the wind and our speed was just atrocious. In the first mile, I lost her. I thought she was riding closely behind me, but as I got off of my bike to wait for her, it was a long wait. Okay maybe only like 4 minutes, but as it turns out, there was a bunch of cotton in the air and Nickie thought it would be awesome to inhale one of the pieces. As it turns out, that is just not a good idea. She had to stop and cough. Anyway, we pushed on. At about mile 45 Nickie got very nauseated. We sat on the side of the road and I called B. I wanted her to take a SAG wagon or allow B to come and get her but she insisted on going on. There was one more stop at about mile 48, so we got her there and stayed for about 25 minutes.
I again called B and he and Brett met up with us at that stop. I tried to convince Nickie to go with them because I didn't want to kill her. But She wanted to ride the rest of the ride. So away we went! I am so glad that she finished it off. As it turns out, she probably just needed to eat more at the lunch stop. She truly worried me though. I want us to do this bike ride for many years to come and I can't go killing her off on one of them! I also fear that she may start to hate the sport of cycling if I push her too hard, but she was determined to finish, and finish we did!
We crossed the finish line at the same time this year. It was so much fun.
And then we crashed.
It felt so nice to just lay there as we waited for B to come and get us. I had such a good time on this ride. Thank you Nickie for doing this with me! You are the best sister a gal could ever ask for! Next year we will have to try for 80 (we signed for 80 miles this year, but decided on 60 instead).
Besides riding a lot of miles on our bikes, we also beaded. My sister is just amazing at so many things, especially crafty things. She has gotten me hooked on beading.
Below here are the two watch bands and the watch face she gave me for my birthday. When I went to Idaho in April, we beaded and beaded and beaded.
Now look at all the stuff I have made!
Below is a necklace that Nickie made and I made the matching watchband. I just wanted to feature it here so Nick can see that I kept the band up to her super skills!
What a cute set!
Yesterday was Nickies birthday. Below is a photo of the cake that she baked. I bought the supplies, but Nick did the rest. She made the frosting and look at that cute icing job!
What a regular Betty Crocker!
Seriously, she has some mad skills in the kitchen. We were all just sittin' around the other night and she whipped up scones for us, from scratch, with stuff that I didn't even realize that I had in my kitchen. B wants me to do more stuff in the kitchen like her.
My sister is seriously amazing.
Below is a photo we tried to take of us. I didn't realize that my zoom was maxxed out.
So we took it again. But I hat my fat double chin to the left in this photo.
3rd time is a charm. Now we both look super cute!
So we took Nickie out to to dinner for her birthday to Cafe Sabor. Last year Nick and I went there and she got a Pink Zebra (drink). So now it is tradition. Here is B and I with our Pink Zebra. It was yummy.
Here is Nickie thoroughly enjoying her Pink Zebra.
What a dufus!
These next few photos were all taken today, and were done just to keep her here longer. I hated to see her go, but I know her family missed her like crazy.
Nick didn't like her in the first photo, so we did an upgrade!
Then we went out to walk her to her car. We photo'd bird poop on her door... and then decided that our reflections were pretty funny...
...so we took more photos...
...and more.
Alas, she finally evaded my stall tactics and got her van door open.
But I could see in her face she didn't want to leave.
Still, I am not convinced she really wanted to leave.
And just like that, she was gone.
Oh sister, I miss you already and you haven't even been gone a day!
Thanks for the super fun time and the great memories. I love you and sorry if this seems like an ode!
What a fantastic weekend!
