Teacher decides never say never to a challenge

About a year ago, before Amy Roby's 30th birthday, she made the decision to never say never.

It wasn't because she was reaching a milestone in her life; it was because she decided one of her goals was to experience new things.

"I was coming up on the age of 30 and I thought about my life," said Roby.

"I was always being resistant, and I wanted to be more open. One way of doing that was to never say never."

About that time, a friend of Roby's asked her if she'd be interested in a bicycle run called "Cycle Oregon," where the riders cycle around various areas of the state for a week. She thought about it and decided to do it.

"That was the trip that got me involved with riding. And when my husband, Scott, jokingly asked me if I wanted to ride the Death Ride this year, I said, 'Yeah.' I think I really surprised him.

"Scott's passion is biking. He's very athletic. So the Oregon ride was sort of my training for the Death Ride."

The Death Ride is for extreme cyclists who test their endurance by riding 129 miles and climbing 16,000 vertical feet over five mountain passes, with an optional sixth.

The ride offers a tour of the California Alps in Alpine County, Calif., and includes both the front and back sides of Monitor Pass (8,314 feet), Ebbett's Pass (8,730 feet) and the east side of Carson Pass (8,580 feet). Amy completed the first two passes, and her husband completed the full ride as he has done each of the past four years.

"I said I'd never do it, and there I was one year later riding it. I only completed the first two passes - the front of Monitor Pass and Ebbetts Pass, which were difficult. And at one point I had stopped and one of my Bently teammates stopped and asked how I was doing.

"I was OK, though very tired, and I think he saw the contemplation on my face of whether to continue, or ride back down.

"So he encouraged me to just ride a little bit more and check out the view from the top. So I did."

Facing the challenge of the Death Ride has helped Roby in her work at Scarselli Elementary School in Gardnerville. It has helped her to teach her third-grade students that it is good to set goals and meet them by using their minds to determine what they can accomplish.

Helping encourage Roby in her grade-school years was mentor Judy Fleenor. They met while Roby was in the fifth grade and have continued to stay in touch over the years.

"It is a friendship that has developed through my life. I recently went on a trip to Washington, D.C., with her and used this trip to develop a slide show presentation for my students. It was amazing."

At Scarselli, Roby is active with the Climate Committee, is a talent show volunteer, on the Writing Research Team, uses INTERACT simulation for teaching and helps produce school skits. This is her fourth year of teaching.

"Just because something's different or out of the ordinary doesn't mean it's not possible (to do). I tell my kids they don't have to be fearful of these things. You have goals beyond what you realize and this helps you in everyday life.

"And I'm absolutely a better teacher for it. I'm able to share my experiences with my students and that's an important part of teaching."