ALC/LifeCycle 5 - Day Six (June 9, 2006)
Ahh Day 6! COLD! I got up for breakfast around my usual 4am and it was relatively comfortable out. Sometime between breakfast and breaking down my tent, the temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees. In general, I am very bad at knowing what clothes to wear. On a day like this, I am even worse. I HATE carrying a bunch of clothing in my jersey pockets but I also don't like to be cold. I usually take the risk that it will warm up eventually and hope that a climb will get me warm too. Looking at the ride slip for the day, there is a climb that starts within the first mile. So I forego the knee and arm warmers and just wear my shorts, a long-sleeved jersey and my windbreaker. And it just got colder and colder. The climb did it's job in warming up. Khoa was funny.... he got very excited as soon as we started to go up. He doesn't generally like to climb. The first rest area was near the top of the climb and it was even colder! lol I decided to ride with Sandra and Lisa who I had met on the first day. I wanted to be sure I could ride into LA with my "riding buddies" on the last day. So I told them I wanted to ride with them and they went to get water. I told my friends to go ahead and then I went to the bathroom and got my water. This day would be dubbed... "AM I AHEAD OR BEHIND!??" I waited for about 20 minutes in the freezing frickin' cold and then decided that they had left without me. Not such a bad thing because I do go a lot faster when I'm trying to catch up. But I still wasn't sure if they were ahead or behind. I figured, if nothing else, I would catch up with Kenny et. al. I stopped at the 2nd rest stop long enough to see if I could find anyone. But apparently they were all cruising today! (= Yay! So I did my stuff (bathroom, chamois butt'r, food, water) and took off. This part of the ride was pretty precarious being on the highway in traffic. It was a little scary. But everything seemed to go okay. I just kept riding. Never did catch up with or get caught by Sandra and Lisa. But at lunch I ran into Kar (jumped into line with him) and then we found Suzann and Khoa. Kenny came rolling in a little after. Not sure how that happened when he was in front of me. But remember the title of this day... and you will understand! lol After lunch, we all went to do our various tasks. Kenny's tire had exploded so he needed to get a new one. That's what he gets for skidding to a stop a couple days ago!! LOL So we all grouped and stood waiting for him. Saw him one moment and the next he was gone! I ran over to the mechanic area and he was nowhere to be found. I stopped at the bathroom just in case... well, and I had to use it. But still! Anyway, we finally decided that we should just go and let him catch up. HEY... was he ahead or behind!?? Geez! What was interesting on this day was the moment I really felt like I was in SoCal! We were riding along the beach getting near to Santa Barbara and it just sortof hit me. We got onto a beach path around that time and I felt like I was on another training ride. It was nice but it was also sortof sad knowing that the ride was nearly over. But for the moment, I was just glad to be warm again! lol Every year, Santa Barbara hosts a Paradise stop... ice cream, massage therapy, cookies, fresh strawberries, SOAP & WATER. I had a couple ice cream cones and some strawberries. Another thing that hit both Khoa and me at this point was the whole "touching food" thing. We are really not allowed to touch ANYTHING at camp or in rest areas. The roadies hand everything to us. That's so the skanky people who don't wash their hands don't infect the rest of us with their crud! Well here, I wanted strawberries so I stood there waiting for th
em after I asked. lol They just looked at me like I was weird for not just grabbing them. Khoa and I both started laughing because we realized we were actually allowed to touch something. By this time we were starting to wonder where Suzann and Kar had gotten to. They stopped to take some pictures and were still not around. Uh oh! Are they ahead or behind!? lol We finally found them but no sign of Kenny. So we had a photo taken with the fabulous Ginger Brewlay (me, Kar, Ginger, Khoa, Suzann). Then off we w
ent again. Ran into Hugh Hefner and some girls along the way... he asked us all to leave the ride and head to the mansion with him. But when he saw the tan lines, he told us to stick to our day jobs! )= Damn! Ya know, this was a really long day. It was about 84 miles with a good amount of climbing. I was actually quite relieved when we rolled into Ventura. We had to avoid some tourists near the pier and make some pretty sharp corners along the way. But that was fun. There was a little dip about which I said to Suzann, "I bet Kenny jumped or jumps that... depending on whether he is ahead of or behind us!" (aside: Kenny later said to us, "HEY! Ya know that little dip in the path before getting to camp? I jumped over that and one of the roadies yelled at me!" LOL) Rolled into camp, which is right on the beach. Elaine had set up some of our tents so we could just get our stuff ready and do our thing. Saw Sandra and Lisa and told them I had been looking for them all day. They just laughed. lol Ah well! I had to go to the gear truck to find my sleeping pad and saw Suzann. Her partner and step-son had showed up to surprise her and she wanted to introduce all of us. VERY COOL! I admit I was a little jealous... that she gets to shower in a real bathroom and sleep in a bed. ha! Got back to my tent and Sue's stuff was there! That was pretty cool! Although I couldn't imagine that she would be sleeping in a tent with broken ribs after being in the hospital for 2 nights! Did the usual crap... shower, dinner, med tent, etc. Then there was a candlelight vigil on the beach. I was having a relatively quiet night in general so that sortof fit the mood. I went and stood down there but didn't hold a candle. I don't know why I didn't want to do that. But I stood in silence and listened to people around me.... some crying, some talking, some breathing deeply... just listened. I said a little prayer for my Uncle Roger and thanked him for the music he'd provided in my head throughout the ride. I thought about the Positive Pedelers on the ride... doing what I am doing but being HIV+. Incredible! And then I thanked God for allowing me this incredible experience, which I had approached as merely an athletic endeavor but which opened my eyes to SO much more! My body handled everything I threw at it and I was always able to recover... so I had the opportunity to really think during this time. In other words, I wasn't SO distracted with pain that it was all I could think of. An excellent centering experience! There was nothing left to do but go to bed. Sue had gotten an air mattress from Chris Cole (aforementioned ED of LAGLC) and slept in his tent... he was in a hotel. So I had my own tent again.... this time I felt better about it. (= At least I can end my day knowing that no one is ahead and no one is behind. We are all together.
em after I asked. lol They just looked at me like I was weird for not just grabbing them. Khoa and I both started laughing because we realized we were actually allowed to touch something. By this time we were starting to wonder where Suzann and Kar had gotten to. They stopped to take some pictures and were still not around. Uh oh! Are they ahead or behind!? lol We finally found them but no sign of Kenny. So we had a photo taken with the fabulous Ginger Brewlay (me, Kar, Ginger, Khoa, Suzann). Then off we w
ent again. Ran into Hugh Hefner and some girls along the way... he asked us all to leave the ride and head to the mansion with him. But when he saw the tan lines, he told us to stick to our day jobs! )= Damn! Ya know, this was a really long day. It was about 84 miles with a good amount of climbing. I was actually quite relieved when we rolled into Ventura. We had to avoid some tourists near the pier and make some pretty sharp corners along the way. But that was fun. There was a little dip about which I said to Suzann, "I bet Kenny jumped or jumps that... depending on whether he is ahead of or behind us!" (aside: Kenny later said to us, "HEY! Ya know that little dip in the path before getting to camp? I jumped over that and one of the roadies yelled at me!" LOL) Rolled into camp, which is right on the beach. Elaine had set up some of our tents so we could just get our stuff ready and do our thing. Saw Sandra and Lisa and told them I had been looking for them all day. They just laughed. lol Ah well! I had to go to the gear truck to find my sleeping pad and saw Suzann. Her partner and step-son had showed up to surprise her and she wanted to introduce all of us. VERY COOL! I admit I was a little jealous... that she gets to shower in a real bathroom and sleep in a bed. ha! Got back to my tent and Sue's stuff was there! That was pretty cool! Although I couldn't imagine that she would be sleeping in a tent with broken ribs after being in the hospital for 2 nights! Did the usual crap... shower, dinner, med tent, etc. Then there was a candlelight vigil on the beach. I was having a relatively quiet night in general so that sortof fit the mood. I went and stood down there but didn't hold a candle. I don't know why I didn't want to do that. But I stood in silence and listened to people around me.... some crying, some talking, some breathing deeply... just listened. I said a little prayer for my Uncle Roger and thanked him for the music he'd provided in my head throughout the ride. I thought about the Positive Pedelers on the ride... doing what I am doing but being HIV+. Incredible! And then I thanked God for allowing me this incredible experience, which I had approached as merely an athletic endeavor but which opened my eyes to SO much more! My body handled everything I threw at it and I was always able to recover... so I had the opportunity to really think during this time. In other words, I wasn't SO distracted with pain that it was all I could think of. An excellent centering experience! There was nothing left to do but go to bed. Sue had gotten an air mattress from Chris Cole (aforementioned ED of LAGLC) and slept in his tent... he was in a hotel. So I had my own tent again.... this time I felt better about it. (= At least I can end my day knowing that no one is ahead and no one is behind. We are all together.
No comments:
Post a Comment