ALC/LifeCycle 5 - Day Five (June 8, 2006)
RED DRESS DAY!! This day is basically a blur! It was "only" about 44 miles. But there was one pretty good climb so it wasn't an easy day. I found out early in the morning that my tentmate had an accident the day before. Apparently she had run into a pole marking the entrance to a trail and hurt her ribs. She finished riding, which explains her stuff being in the tent, and then went to the med tent when they returned. They immediately to her to the hospital. And here I had thought maybe they'd gotten a hotel room again that night! I'm sortof glad I didn't know because I would have been worried. This way I was just jealous that she was sleeping in a bed... which she was... but in a hospital. So I packed all her stuff up for her and left it with her friend so they could get what they needed for her or take the whole thing if she was going home. They (her team, The Pee Team) were going to SAG for the day so they could stay at the hospital with her. Aside from that, the atmosphere was definitely festive. People had put a lot of thought, time, and energy into their attire for the day. *I* was not one of them! lol I had bas
ically grabbed a nightie that I wear and decided to wear that over a red jersey and riding shorts. Ha! I'll be more creative next time! The picture is Khoa (who actually makes a pretty hot girl!), Kar, Elaine, Suzann, Kenny, and me. Kar was definitely one 
of the most creative! Though it wasn't technically a dress, he had taken ribbons and written all his donors names on them then pinned them to his traditional Chinese pants and shirt. SO many people wanted their pictures taken with him. It was very cute!! There was another guy who rode on 3-4 inch heels! He had his seat height fit professionally
for the shoes and then had a clip put on one of the shoes so he could clip into his pedal! A little bit crazy if you ask me! But very cool! He got a standing ovation at lunch! Remember that climb I mentioned?? lol Yeah, he did that. How will he top that next year I wonder! A funny thing about this day is the rest stop at the Winifred Wollman School. I assume they stop there every year. So every year these kids come outside and see all these men and women in dresses riding their bikes. Obviously they haven't been traumatized or the school wouldn't have let us use their space. And they certainly wouldn't have had the kids outside talking to us and doing some roadie stuff for us. Tiny town in California and they're more open minded than some of the larger places. That was one of those times when I saw the impact of just riding. Nothing more... just ride. Show them who we are... that they are us too. Give them a little orange plastic bracelet to remember us by. And let them use their own brains to process it. The parents have to be supportive too... we all know how parents can affect things! Poignant! Another climb out of the rest stop. That was cool to see! All the red climbing up that hill... it really was like veins in the body. I'm sure they were hard but I don't remember the climbs being all that difficult. I'm sure that's partly due to my getting in better shape, also to the shorter day, and finally to the excitement of knowing it was a shorter day and the red dress thing. I do remember being pretty excited on that climb and just going for it though. Really the only reason I remember that at all is because I waited for awhile before my riding buddies showed up. We sat and relaxed while we ate together. There was only about 7 miles of riding left after lunch so we were in no hurry. I don't think any of us had plans to go into Lomoc (pronounced Lom-poke). There were shuttles taking people into town that wanted to go. Apparently there are some shopping and restaurants there. I guess if I was going, I would have just planned to ride in. But I just didn't have any interest. I thought being around camp sounded more attractive to me. Did the same stuff as usual. Got some more ice for my hand then headed over to dinner... kinda early. But Suzann was already there so I sat with her. I think we were both happy to have some time to just hang out. 
We basically just sat there the whole time... until the sun started going away and then we moved toward the middle to get some body heat going. Hung out there until announcements and stuff. I made a mistake in yesterday's blog. The talent show was tonight... and it was good. Before it started, I fell asleep with my head on the table! lol Guess I was a little tired. The picture was taken after I woke up! lol But I stayed awake for a few of the acts and then headed out. The Russian comedian was hysterical... and the singers were all quite talented. There was some good dancing too... including a Hula dancer (I think that's what she was). At some point I figured I would hear everything from my tent so I decided to leave. On my way I decided to check out my "Messages of Support" on the computers they had set up for just that purpose. It's cool to go see that people are thinking of me while I'm out there on the road sweating my ass off. It seems like such a small thing... but I tell you what, I cried quite a few times reading what people had written to me! Done with that... med tent for some more ice... and off to bed. Knowing that Sue was in the hospital, it wasn't quite as nice having the tent all to myself. /= Another thing that I forgot to mention... instead of bucket laundry, I have been washing my clothes in the shower. lol I just walk in with my clothes on, wash with laundry soap as if I'm washing my body... rinse and remove. lol Then I wash and rinse the insides and hang them on the little soap/shampoo shelf on the shower head. (= Much easier than the bucket!! Oh yeah, this was another phone charging location. Same system... plastic ziploc and leaving it out over night. Okay, but I have to tell this one last story... because I can! I was standing where I was going to plug my phone in. And while I was standing there, a woman was getting ready to go into the shower truck. No one was really around since most people had already showered awhile ago. So she's standing there... and she takes off her pants and underwear. So she's literally butt naked... though she still had a shirt on. She obviously realized what she had done and seemed to panic a little. Looked around and saw me... put her pants back on real quick. Then went into the shower. I felt bad for her because I would have been really embarrassed. But it was also quite humorous. Goes to show how comfortable we can get with our surroundings! Even if those surroundings are outside your shower truck!!
ically grabbed a nightie that I wear and decided to wear that over a red jersey and riding shorts. Ha! I'll be more creative next time! The picture is Khoa (who actually makes a pretty hot girl!), Kar, Elaine, Suzann, Kenny, and me. Kar was definitely one 
of the most creative! Though it wasn't technically a dress, he had taken ribbons and written all his donors names on them then pinned them to his traditional Chinese pants and shirt. SO many people wanted their pictures taken with him. It was very cute!! There was another guy who rode on 3-4 inch heels! He had his seat height fit professionally
for the shoes and then had a clip put on one of the shoes so he could clip into his pedal! A little bit crazy if you ask me! But very cool! He got a standing ovation at lunch! Remember that climb I mentioned?? lol Yeah, he did that. How will he top that next year I wonder! A funny thing about this day is the rest stop at the Winifred Wollman School. I assume they stop there every year. So every year these kids come outside and see all these men and women in dresses riding their bikes. Obviously they haven't been traumatized or the school wouldn't have let us use their space. And they certainly wouldn't have had the kids outside talking to us and doing some roadie stuff for us. Tiny town in California and they're more open minded than some of the larger places. That was one of those times when I saw the impact of just riding. Nothing more... just ride. Show them who we are... that they are us too. Give them a little orange plastic bracelet to remember us by. And let them use their own brains to process it. The parents have to be supportive too... we all know how parents can affect things! Poignant! Another climb out of the rest stop. That was cool to see! All the red climbing up that hill... it really was like veins in the body. I'm sure they were hard but I don't remember the climbs being all that difficult. I'm sure that's partly due to my getting in better shape, also to the shorter day, and finally to the excitement of knowing it was a shorter day and the red dress thing. I do remember being pretty excited on that climb and just going for it though. Really the only reason I remember that at all is because I waited for awhile before my riding buddies showed up. We sat and relaxed while we ate together. There was only about 7 miles of riding left after lunch so we were in no hurry. I don't think any of us had plans to go into Lomoc (pronounced Lom-poke). There were shuttles taking people into town that wanted to go. Apparently there are some shopping and restaurants there. I guess if I was going, I would have just planned to ride in. But I just didn't have any interest. I thought being around camp sounded more attractive to me. Did the same stuff as usual. Got some more ice for my hand then headed over to dinner... kinda early. But Suzann was already there so I sat with her. I think we were both happy to have some time to just hang out. 
We basically just sat there the whole time... until the sun started going away and then we moved toward the middle to get some body heat going. Hung out there until announcements and stuff. I made a mistake in yesterday's blog. The talent show was tonight... and it was good. Before it started, I fell asleep with my head on the table! lol Guess I was a little tired. The picture was taken after I woke up! lol But I stayed awake for a few of the acts and then headed out. The Russian comedian was hysterical... and the singers were all quite talented. There was some good dancing too... including a Hula dancer (I think that's what she was). At some point I figured I would hear everything from my tent so I decided to leave. On my way I decided to check out my "Messages of Support" on the computers they had set up for just that purpose. It's cool to go see that people are thinking of me while I'm out there on the road sweating my ass off. It seems like such a small thing... but I tell you what, I cried quite a few times reading what people had written to me! Done with that... med tent for some more ice... and off to bed. Knowing that Sue was in the hospital, it wasn't quite as nice having the tent all to myself. /= Another thing that I forgot to mention... instead of bucket laundry, I have been washing my clothes in the shower. lol I just walk in with my clothes on, wash with laundry soap as if I'm washing my body... rinse and remove. lol Then I wash and rinse the insides and hang them on the little soap/shampoo shelf on the shower head. (= Much easier than the bucket!! Oh yeah, this was another phone charging location. Same system... plastic ziploc and leaving it out over night. Okay, but I have to tell this one last story... because I can! I was standing where I was going to plug my phone in. And while I was standing there, a woman was getting ready to go into the shower truck. No one was really around since most people had already showered awhile ago. So she's standing there... and she takes off her pants and underwear. So she's literally butt naked... though she still had a shirt on. She obviously realized what she had done and seemed to panic a little. Looked around and saw me... put her pants back on real quick. Then went into the shower. I felt bad for her because I would have been really embarrassed. But it was also quite humorous. Goes to show how comfortable we can get with our surroundings! Even if those surroundings are outside your shower truck!!
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