The Little Red Riding Hood Ride!!!

Considering that when I got up at 4AM with it raining outside. It turned out to be a wonderful day to be on a bike! And what FUN too!

(Above Photo: Little Red Mascot- Von and myself as a Course Marshal)

After going to 3 different places in SLC I finally managed to get a caffeinated cup of joe. I guess there's something about being that early in the morning(4:30AM) that most regular coffee places are not open. I went inside a Maverik after fueling and they only had decaffeinated. Hello! I need fully leaded at that time in the morning. I'm a conditionally early morning type of person--- thus I NEED my hot black caffeinated cup of coffee before I perform very well. And I definitely needed something before driving two hours north. (Photos Below: Hawaiian shirted volunteers-Andrew and friend, Ann from BadAss Coffee being coy, Little Red-Myself-the Big Bad Wolf, and plenty of costumed gals!)

Well, the lottery winner in this case was a McDonald's. Those golden arches and their new coffees lured me off the interstate in Bountiful. Ahh, coffee! Now I was awake for the day, as I buzzed north along I-15 sipping my cup of joe and a sausage McMuffin. The weather was clearing up as the more I headed north. But as I got to Wellsville there was a fog and cloud cover. I was concerned about the weather for the ride.

I arrived in plenty of time to get a GREAT parking space! Right across from the start. I headed over to the volunteer and right away they needed help at the registration booth. I showed up and asked what they needed me to do. I kept on apologising because I had NO CLUE what I was doing but I muddled through as best as I could. As it started to slow, I left that area and managed to visit and get a few pictures. The weather was clearing up by almost every 15 minutes of time that passed.

Shortly after 8:30AM, I headed out on my bike wearing the Course Marshal bib. Mostly, I felt like the Course Marshal position gave me an instant PR position. I would go along and talk with riders and say hi. Periodically, I would point out safety hazards or make suggestions as I went along. I also notice that women would search me out at rest stops. They would ask me questions about directions of where to go for certain routes, and mention any riding concerns that they may have. If I didn't know the answer we would seek out someone of authority near by to get the answers. It was fun and I got to talk with a lot of wonderful women from all over the country. And had a bit of wind (never fun) on the way back on my 80 mile extension that I was the Course Marshal for but over all it was real FUN time, and a beautiful day too!