As I quietly rolled down the dark bike path I can hear dogs barking at us and the cold crunch of the snow under our 4 inch wide tires. It starts to sink in that I’m wrapping up one of the most difficult rides I have ever done. It was hard not to smile.

A few years ago Chris (PB Warehouse guru) and I got some fat bikes. Bikes specifically built for snow and sand. We have been doing some mini adventures both in the winter snow and summer sands but decided to step it up a notch and sign up for the Triple D. The Triple D race meanders through Iowa’s rolling corn fields, windy plains, and along 70ft rock walls. It involves stream crossings, cattle grates, pushing your bike up most of the hills, and pushing through snow drifts in flat corn fields. Honestly, I planned on sagging out the day I signed up. Sixty-five miles in January… on snowmobile trails? I figured I’d start the race and catch a ride when it got hard, or I got cold. Much to our surprise, it was a beautiful sunny day and I was having too much fun to notice my legs burning and my sore throat, which sneaked up on me the day before. Soon I was nearing the halfway point and was thinking that was good enough. Half way? Sounds ok. But how did I even get this far? At the start of the race I felt sick and was planning a 5 mile out and back, ending in the hot tub at the hotel while I waited for the real racers to finish. But I realized, just taking that next step is all it takes to go the next mile… and the mile after that. One mile at a time is how we finished the Triple D. Through Dyersville, past Durango and finally back in Dubuque with the snow under my tires and a smile on my face.