Dear Kids,
      Dad and I just got back from the viewing for Doug Carlson–you know the Carlsons on Hawkeye, parents of Brian, Jennifer, Jeff, and Laurie. (Brian said to say Hi to Allen, and Jeff said to say Hi to Paul). Doug died of heart disease, but he also had kidney failure, and was on dialysis. I guess it was a good time for him to go, but really hard for his family. He’d been in the hospital since he had surgery about three weeks ago, and he never recovered. Dad and I will be going to the funeral tomorrow, and then I’ll be helping with the luncheon too, since I’m in Relief Society now.
      Charley, Andy, and Richard are planning a 5-day bike tour, the Great Utah Ride, from Brigham City to Kanab. It will probably be Labor Day weekend, September 3-8. The five legs of the trip will be Brigham City to Riverton, to Nephi (on the west side of Utah Lake,) to Richfield, to Panguitch, and to Kanab. They’ll start on a Thursday, ride Friday and Saturday, take Sunday off in Richfield, and then finish on Monday and Tuesday. Here’s an e-mail that Richard sent out: “I like the idea of inviting anybody who wants to join us for all or portions of the ride. Those of you who want to ride the entire trip will need to be able to average around 15 mph over 5-7 hours a day. I will set up some training goals that will help prepare anyone who wants to do this. It will require approx 3 rides a week starting in March. Indoor trainers are great and will help you get a jump start on the season You will also need to have the proper gear to ride. Shorts, helmet etc. and your bike needs to be a quality bike to be able to withstand the stress put on it by riding the distances each day. I am also available for consultation (for a nominal fee) for bike and equipment questions. I love the idea and I think it will be a lot of fun especially if we can get a lot of participation from all of our families so pass the word on.”
      Richard worked out a training schedule and sent it to me as an attached file (PDF). Anybody interested? I can forward it to you. I’m planning to do some of the ride, but probably not all, since my idea of training is to ride my bike to the library 2 or 3 times a week, (no shorts), although I did borrow Allen’s contraption that you put under the back wheel of your bike to make it stationary. It gives you a pretty good workout. I went snowboarding yesterday and had a great workout–too bad it uses different muscles.
      Brad King sent me some information about the student who’s using the Ackerson Family scholarship, and I’ll put more in my next letter, since this one is long already. But I just wanted to remind all of you who contributed–make sure you deduct it when you do your taxes, if you itemize.
      Life is great! Lots of love, Mom