Archie Adventure: Salt to Saint

It is amazing how life’s adventures interrelate; and many times it’s unexpected. In March word got around that a bike relay race, called Salt to Saint, was going to happen in September. This race starts in Salt Lake City and ends in Saint George, Utah. This is a 420-mile team event. The teams could be as small as two people, or as big as eight, and there were even the diehards that did the whole thing solo. Heidi and I had not ridden a bike since before we started trying to have children (roughly three years). I had never ridden a real road bike; these are not the ten speeds that we grew up with. So, we figured that if we started training, we would be good to go, how hard could it be.

Our training began in April where we rode for 5 miles that took us 50 minutes. Then we realized that we really needed to take the training seriously, and we were/are not young anymore. We began our training schedule of three times a week increasing the mileage periodically. We thought we were doing great and decided to test ourselves with a bike event called, “The Antelope by Moonlight Ride,” at Antelope Island. This was a 24-mile bike ride. Up until this time, the farthest we had ridden was 20 miles, generally flat road conditions, what was four more miles, no big deal. The ride started with us going uphill with a huge crowd of people. We had not trained for this type of hill. Heidi and I got separated amongst the mayhem. By the time I got to the top of the hill my legs were burning, and there were 10 more miles to go before the turn around. On the descent, I got going really fast and thought I had a lot more energy than expected. This fantasy quickly disappeared as I started going up another hill and my lungs began to burn. I slowed until Heidi caught up to me, giving me a chance to get my legs back. We made it to the 12-mile turn around point, and we were exhausted. We rested for a little bit and began the dreaded 12-mile return trip. The ride back was okay, until we made it to the descent where I thought I was a top-notch rider and had to climb the mile ascent. Slowly we pushed ourselves up the hill and coasted to the finish line. As hard as this ride was, our confidence grew that we knew we could do the Salt to Saint relay; it was going to be tough, but we could make it.

The training improved until our old bodies told us that it was beginning to be too much too fast. We hit our first wall where we had to take a weekend off and let our bodies recover. We realized that we couldn’t do more than three rides a week, only with one long ride. Following this routine, we were able to go a little bit longer each time we did our long rides. Our furthest long ride was 26 miles continuously. Which was great since our longest leg in the Salt to Saint relay was going to be 20 miles. It was at this time we began to get tired of the riding schedule. We liked riding bikes, but not this much, this often. We had other things we wanted to do, and riding kept getting in the way. We also had to time our rides if it got too hot outside. When it was too hot, we rode our spin bike at home (not a great replacement for the real thing). We tried going early in the morning and that only happened a couple of times. The heat of the summer was also putting a damper on our training as well. We were beginning to get mentally fatigued with our riding. However, we soldiered on, and we continued training until it was three weeks prior to the race day, when we had returned from a concert in Las Vegas with the flu. For the next two weeks we were home resting, barely getting our online work accomplished. The Saturday prior to the race, we rode for 6 miles and were spent. We didn’t know if our bodies would be able to recover from the illness. We waited until Wednesday of the next week two days before the event and rode 12 miles okay. We were able to do that ride. We didn’t know how we were going to do the relay, but we knew we had to try.

When we were in the hospital with Archer, it was physically exhausting and mentally fatiguing. To help us get through the difficult times, we had a wonderful staff of medical personnel that took really good care of us and Archer. We gave those that went above and beyond, and that really connected with us, a Christmas Ornament with the inscription “Archer’s Angels” with an etching of the little rabbit archer from Disney’s cartoon Robin Hood. The ornament was clear acrylic that allowed the light to pass through it. This staff we called our Archer’s Angels because we believed they were heaven sent to help us during this very difficult time with very little preparation. We knew we could not have made it through without them. As we were deciding the name of our team, we chose the name “Archie’s Angels,” in honor of them. We also did it in honor of Archer since he is an Angel now and can watch over us. We made a T-Shirt with a similar print of “Archie’s Angels” at the top with the rabbit archer and below the rabbit was the words, “Forever Fearless,” because, that was what Archer was, he was fearless throughout an insurmountable trial, and he will be that way forever.

Like our time at Stanford we were ill prepared and a little scared going into something so beyond our capabilities. The night before we packed a little, but like many others on our team, we waited until the last minute getting everything ready in a rush. We had to get up early in the morning and begin our drive towards the Hogle Zoo, which is coincidently the same route towards the University of Utah hospital where Heidi was admitted the day before Archer would be born, early in the morning.

We arrived at the starting line, unfamiliar with the group of riders that we would be with through our journey. There were three teams of eight. On Archie’s Angels we knew two of the other riders, which were Heidi’s close friends, and the rest we did not know. The others were people who our sister-in-law, Meghan, works with, and she was on one of the other teams. We had a quick meet and greet, and got our bikes and car ready for the race. They needed to be tagged up. We had pictures of Archer taped to the windows, and pictures of him with us in our bike pouches. Before we knew it, the officials called for the first riders to the starting line. Since this was a big race, they had staggered starting times so it wouldn’t get too congested and for the safety of the riders on the roads. At 8:00 am, 22 September 2023 on a crisp Friday morning, the race began.

It was very anticlimactic, since the majority of us were just standing there, taking a few pictures, wondering what to do next. Oh yeah, get to the transfer station. There was one GPS tracker given to each team. The person riding had to have that tracker on them. At the transfer station was where they handed off the tracker to the next rider in the relay race. There were 24 legs, and 23 transfer stations. Each rider was expected to ride at least three legs. I was assigned to legs 8, 16, and 23; Heidi was assigned to 7, 15, and 24. We thought we were smart since we kept our legs equally separated and wouldn’t get too tired. What we didn’t consider is that all the other riders really enjoyed riding, and they were physically able to do more than just three legs. A person could do extra legs as a support rider for the person who had the team tracker. There were many who did more than 4 legs and 5 people rode over 100 miles. That was not Heidi and I, we did our three and that was all we could do.

Early in the race, we drove to each of the transfer stations to cheer on the riders and help the riders start their legs and assist the ones that were finishing. We would get to know the different people on the three teams during these lulls in the race. It wasn’t until 3ish in the afternoon when Heidi would start riding leg 7. To tell you the truth, we were already tired at this point, and we hadn’t even ridden a mile, how were going to get through this. Heidi started, and she was riding with Meghan. Heidi rode 22.2 miles with Meghan staying by her side, grateful for the company that made the ride more enjoyable. This was her easy leg of the ride. What the other riders didn’t know was that we were not as fast as they were, and I would show them that this was the case very quickly when I began leg 8.

The riders took off and like I was going down the hill at Antelope Island, I thought I was doing great keeping up with them at a cool 16 m/h. Then their legs were warmed up and they started leaving me behind as I slowed up. I got to the first hill and my legs began to burn, there was a little decline and then a larger hill that went up to the Manti Temple. I was tired, and I was only halfway through the ride. As rode into Manti, I saw the group I was with waiting for me. There was an older couple that rode behind me encouraging me to keep at it. They were very positive and upbeat. Before I knew it, the leg was finished and I passed the tracker off to the next person. When I had finished my hamstrings were killing me.

A little later on, in the race, there were a couple of people that came up to me and told me that we could pass on our legs and someone else could do the riding for us. Stubbornly, I told them that we were going to do it, that we signed up for this, and that was what we were going to do. At midnight, as the temperature had dropped, Heidi started on her second leg. She rode with 3 riders that stayed with her during the cold, dark night. She came in appreciative of the patience they’d had with her.

As Heidi came in, I could see the toll it had taken. I was wondering how I was going to do. My legs hurt, but I had recovered enough energy, but this leg was a daunting 20 miles uphill, where some of it was steeper than I had expected looking at the booklet we had. Fortunately, it was dark outside, and I couldn’t see how bad it was. Unfortunately, it was dark outside, and I couldn’t see how far I needed to go. When the person who was riding by me told me we had only gone 10 miles I was disheartened, because the hard parts hadn’t happened yet. However, my legs felt as if they could keep going. Even though they were hurting with each pedal, I was able to take the next one and the next. Two hours later at 4:30 am I had finished riding. I don’t know how I made it, but I did. And then I knew I had to do one more ride, not as long but there were some steep hills that went with it. I had become so tired that I pushed that thought to the side and fell asleep.

At this point in the ride, teams were getting tired, and they started strategically leaping a few legs head in the cars so people could sleep while a few stayed with the ones riding. While we were waiting, we ate some breakfast, more than what we had eaten up until then. We had been snacking, but we needed a little more. The sun was rising, and the temperature was warming. We helped with a couple of leg changes and then drove to my last leg.

I don’t know what happened, it was similar to the first ride. My energy was up, the riders I was with took off with a higher speed, but somehow, I was able to keep a decent pace as they rode away from me. This time, with each hill I had to ride up, I was able to continue without slowing too much. Whenever my legs began to throb, I had a surge of energy to keep them going. Before I knew it, I was at the end of my leg with Heidi and the rest of the group. Many of the riders wanted to cross the finish line together.

This was Heidi’s leg. She had a burst of energy, the impossibility of it all melted away. It was now possible that we could do it. With a larger group than normal, our golden-shirted Archie’s Angels led the pack. I drove ahead and waited at the finish line for the group to make it. As I was waiting, I thought back to when I had held Archer in the Hospital, when he looked around, and he held my finger. There were different songs playing that brought different memories to mind, and sadness of how much I missed him.

When I knew the group was getting closer to the finish line, I got into position to take a video. The group rounded the last corner, and I began to record. Heidi fiercely rode ahead as “Eye of the Tiger” was being played. It isn’t well known that Archer’s middle name is Calvin, after “Calvin and Hobbes,” and we playfully dream that Archer in the next life is going to have a pet tiger, and we would name him Hobbes.

When Heidi crossed the finish line, the emotion of going through something so immense crashed on us all. We had completed the race, but we didn’t do it alone. We had 22 other angels riding with us, helping us through this impossible task that we were not ready for. We had Archie watching over us, giving us that extra boost when we needed it. He has become our angel helping us through our hard times.

As we go through life, we have commented many times in this blog, we are never alone. The hard times won’t be taken from us, but we will have the help to get through them if we show a little faith. It is why we do this blog. It is to let people know they are never alone, even when they think they are. I know that we were cared for by the many angels at Stanford and now during this Salt to Saint relay, and there are many more Archie’s Angels.

We want to thank all the people who helped us throughout our journey at Stanford, the original Archer’s Angels; and we want to thank all the people who helped us through our Salt to Saint journey, our new Archie’s Angels. We want to let our boy know he is always with us wherever we go, and we hope to be as Forever Fearless as he is.