Well, I finally graduated from college in December 2010. Yay, Biology and Chemistry!  To celebrate finishing school early, I left for the Maryknoll Language Institute in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I spent six weeks in a language immersion program, volunteering at an orphanage, and fulfilling my childhood dream of playing Indiana Jones at Machu Picchu!

Megan climbing around at Machu Picchu

My wonderful fiance and best friend, Du Wayne, proposed shortly after I got back. (I think he missed me!) We are still waiting to see where life will take us, and have only tentatively set a date for next year. I am anxiously awaiting word back from Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical School and the Master's in Anatomy program there. I'll be on several tours this summer, most likely BRAN, OK Freewheel, BTC, and RAGBRAI. I can't wait to see everyone at camp!

For many of us it's almost that time of year to clean off  last year's dirt and grime from our stable of trusty steeds and get ready to hit the trail again. It's also a great time to develop some good biking habits.

Here is a great article!

"Finding the Time to Ride"

by Fred Matheny

for www.RoadBikeRider.com 

We shouldn't feel excessive admiration for pro racers who log 600-mile weeks. They have plenty of time to ride and recover-that's their job. The real heroes are people like you, who find time to ride while still having a life away from the bike.

Full-time work, family commitments and cycling can be efficiently interwoven into your busy day. All it takes to schedule everything into 24 hours is maximum use of time-budgeting techniques.

Here's where to look for time slots that can accommodate your love for riding:

Commuting:
Riding your bike to work or school and back may be the best way to create time cycling time.  When you commute by bike, time normally spent sitting in a car is used productively as part of the training day. An eight-mile ride to work or school takes about 30 minutes each way. Even if you do no other riding, that's still an hour of cycling each weekday. The trip home can be lengthened as much as time, daylight and energy allow.

 read more about "Finding Time to Ride"

Kate and Robert Dunning

My dad (Bob) and I have always been biking partners. Our home base is Grafton, WI and we are lucky to have lots of local roads and trails to bike on. We really started riding when I was in high school, me on my purple Timberline mountain bike and my dad on his GT Hybrid. We started participating in the Door County Century in 1994 and continue to make this an annual ride. We completed our first century when I was still in high school. I made sure to put slicks on my mountain bike before setting off! We have missed just two rides since we started and have completed the century a handful of times.  

Robert and Kate on CANDISC

I have loved biking ever since I learned to ride around the block on my banana seat bike. Growing up, my sisters (Jean, Erin, Lori) and I would ride across town to the candy store or even "all the way" to the next city to visit the DQ.  While camping in Door County, my family of six would get on our bikes and ride the Sunset Trail to Fish Creek. It seemed like we rode all day, although it was really only about 5 miles. My dad then started taking us on the Sparta-Elroy Trail. We would pack our backpacks, ride the 30 miles to Sparta, stay overnight, and bike back the next day. We loved walking through the tunnels with our flashlights, especially the one where you got into the middle and couldn't see either end.

Our bikes have changed since then and so have our rides and our goals. We rode on Trek Hybrids for a few years, and then switched to road bikes. My dad rides a Trek 2300 and I went from a Trek 1000 to a Trek Pilot 1.2 to a Specialized Roubaix that I can't wait to break in this spring. We try to have 1000 miles in before our week long trip and 2000+ for the season.

We were challenging ourselves with longer daily rides when we first heard about SAGBRAW. We did our first weeklong ride in 2002 (with my sister Jean) and we were hooked. Everyone thought we were crazy for calling this a "vacation," but there's something about getting up, biking to your next destination, talking to people who love biking and being outdoors as much as you do, camping, and getting up the next day to do it all over again. We did SAGBRAW four more times (with Lori joining us multiple times) before wanting to try something different.  

Lori and Kate on RAGBRAI 2009

We searched the Internet for rides that would fit our schedules as educators. We came across CANDISC, a ride in North Dakota, and decided to go for it. This was our first out-of-state ride and our first experience with Shuttleguy. We saw the tents while on SAGBRAW and finally decided to treat ourselves. What a wonderful decision! It was a very small ride (about 500 riders) but the people were friendly and the scenery beautiful. The highlight in 2007 was the Peace Gardens on the US/Canadian border. We did one more CANDISC in 2008 and enjoyed Medora and the challenging riding in Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

While on our rides, people always talked about RAGBRAI and how it was an experience you'll never forget. We figured it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip and entered into the lottery in 2009 with the Shuttleguy group. We were accepted and tried to prepare ourselves for the crowds and the miles. It ended up being a wonderful experience.   

2010 RAGBRAI finish in Dubuque

We returned to Iowa in 2010 with Lori for a second RAGBRAI where we completed the century option and biked up the infamous Potter's Hill, and are anticipating our third "once-in-a-lifetime" trip this July.

People still think we're crazy for the number of miles we ride and how we spend our vacation time, but to me it couldn't get any better. I'm out in the fresh air, getting exercise while doing something I love, and spending time with my dad. I don't know what the future will bring, but I hope it brings many more miles and adventures on the road.