This picture really describes today; a cold, lonely, long ride over hill after hill. Wanda rode her bike in the Heber Valley Century. It was a grueling 103 mile ride through the mountains and valleys of Northern Utah.

Yesterday we had snow and the forecast for today was iffy. When the ride started it was 33 degrees Fahrenheit down in the Valley. The highest temperature I saw on the cars thermometer was 54 for brief period during the sunny afternoon.

None of Wanda's friends or teammates made this cancer charity ride but there were a few hundred other riders that started the event. So a good part of the time she was riding alone. Of course on a ride like this your really alone anyway. You have to dig deep and do it yourself.

We don't know how many finished but we do know who was the last to finish ... Wanda. She fought the cold and she over came her burning,beat muscles to complete the ride. If it wasn't for the encouragement of some of the riders she met along the way, I'm not sure she would have finished.

This image was taken at the 90 mile mark just after she finished a climb up an 8% grade that was about 3.5 miles long. It was just one of several similar climbs.

Here are a couple more shots from today.