Day 0 to Day 5

My apologies for the delay in updates loyal readers! It has been a wee bit crazy here on the ride front, so I’ll start from the beginning to get you up-to-date. As a point of reference, I make this post on Day 5 of the ride (Ardmore, OK).

Day 0

To the untrained eye, Day 0, which included our send off from the fountain at UT and the ride from there to Cedar Park, went off without a hitch. The reality of the situation was that everything that needed to happen happened, but not without glitches. First off, the person organizing the send off called me at 4:30p the day before to tell me what the schedule was and, oh yeah, we need to use your vans. Then she called me back at 11:30p or so to let me know the team was expected to do stuff and that she was going to email me a schedule for the day which never materialized. The riders showed up to the fountain at 8:30a, on time and ready to ride…only to have it start pouring, and I mean pouring, rain. There has never been a send off with rain and though it stopped raining right before we rolled out, at least we can say that the 2008 team is out to break new ground for the organization in more than just the fundraising category. The media did show up and both I and the ride director for the Sierra route were interviewed and ultimately ended up on the Sunday morning news. After a few speakers at UT, we rode to the Capitol and took pictures and then headed to City Hall where one of the council members said a few words. Then we headed to Jack & Adam’s and Bicycle Sports Shop to take more pictures. Both shops helped us with gear and bikes. The planners hadn’t thought about lunch so a few quick phone calls had to be made and we rode to Schlotzky’s to eat. From there we rode over to Business Suites, where the Texas 4000 headquarters is located. After another quick photo with the folks and words with the folks there, we finally commenced our 25 mile ride from Austin to Cedar Park.

My ride today was dedicated to my father who had prostate cancer and has been cancer-free for about 11 months now. As the ride was only 25 miles long, we figured we wouldn’t need a rest stop. However, not to far into the ride, one of the guys I was riding with was struggling because of the heat, and a little over half way through the ride, I ran into a few more riders stopped at a gas station getting drinks. Apparently one of the riders parents had brought them water along the road already too! Everyone eventually made it to Cedar Park safely. In talking to one of the 2007 ride directors the next day, I discovered that that year two riders got heat exhaustion on that same 25 mile ride. They also had not had a rest stop. One of my recommendations for next year’s group is to make sure there’s a rest stop even though its only a 25 mile ride. When it gets hot, water disappears fast!

After getting into Cedar Park, several of us drove back to Austin to take care of last minute odds and ends. I finished packing my room, got the rest of my Tx4k papers together and took a shower. Meanwhile, I’m starting to get tired and hungry, which are generally not a good combination…especially when you’re about to go to dinner with your parents and bf who are all meeting each other for the first time. Yikes! Dinner went well though. We went to Trudy’s and the food was just what we needed. Afterwards we went to Amy’s Ice Cream for dessert. Then it was time to drive back to Cedar Park and get some sleep.

Day 1

Morning came way too early as it seems to be doing lately. We had slept in a couple of well air-conditioned gyms at the school and it was difficult to get myself out of my sleeping bag! The ATLAS ride folks had bagels and fruit for everyone for breakfast. This may seem like a small thing, but as the person responsible for making sure the team is fed and happy, it is great to have someone else worrying about providing a meal. We packed everything into the trailers and with the sounding of an air horn, the 2008 ATLAS ride commenced…as did the 2008 Texas 4000 ride to Alaska. Though one of the coaches we had at our training camp did the dedication for the ride, I personally dedicated my ride to my grandfather who I never met because he passed away from lung cancer when my dad was in college. For the first twenty miles or so of the ride, I rode both by myself and with a few other 2008 Tx4k riders. All I remember from the first rest stop is that they had Smoothie King smoothies. I approved. I rode mostly by myself for the next 10 miles. Leaving the next rest stop I rode with a man named Ed who had recently gotten into cycling and we chatted for the next 10 miles. After the next rest stop, I met a professor of one of the riders on my route. It turned out he also had an MIT connection—he’d done his grad work there! I really enjoyed riding with non-Tx4kers. I do not mean that in a negative way. It was just nice to meet new people, listen to their stories and why they were doing the ride. The last 10 miles of the ride I rode with a couple of the 2008 Tx4k-ers from the Sierra route. My parents were at the finish line to see me and enjoy the post ride festivities. We took a bunch of pictures and then my parents left to drive back to Austin and I went back to being the ride director. After packing the trailers, I had the opportunity to hang out with some of the alumni who were camping with us that night. They had great stories from their years and a few sage pieces of advice. The ATLAS ride finished in a vineyard and the team stayed in the tasting room and out on a patio area. The patio area was donut-shaped with a roof over the donut and open in the middle. I put my sleeping pad and bag down in the middle and lay down to fall asleep. A few minutes later, one of the other riders shut off the lighting for the patio. I think the stars turned on when he did that. It was one of those moments that take away your breath. There were so many stars and they were so bright. It was beautiful and I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity to be there.

Day 2

This morning we said goodbye to the Sierra team and turned to the north. We had a tail wind for the entire 91 miles, which was fantastic. We made incredible time to Stephenville and one of the riders got the local Dairy Queen to donate burgers (and a salad for me) for a snack. We were housed in the dorms, which meant everyone got a bed. I was looking forward to sleeping the bed, but I was prevented from maximizing that opportunity. We got word that a storm was moving in from the north and was expected to hit us in the early afternoon the next day. In anticipation of this, four riders and I stayed up until midnight or so moving almost everything (gear, food, etc) from the trailer to the vans. Fortunately, we all enjoy each others company, so the work was very enjoyable. My ride today was dedicated to my grandmother who passed away from lung cancer.

Day 3

Today was 110 miles from Stephenville to Grapevine, TX, home to a couple of riders on the 2008 team. My ride was dedicated to my grandmother who had liver cancer. We woke up around 4:45a in order to get an early start to the day. We decided to have every rider stop at every rest stop so we could keep everyone in the same general area should the storm hit. The folks that checked us into the dorm came and watched our ride dedication before we left. We were off on the road by 6:35a or so, and because the weather was so nice, we actually did rest stops every 25 miles. Doing this really made the morning fly. One of my concerns going into this ride was that the team would be really annoyed that they had to stop at every rest stop. However, no one complained. Everyone seemed happily occupied at the rest stops and we moved quickly through our route. At one point, I and three others made a wrong a turn. Fortunately, the road turned into the road we were supposed to be on, which was very convenient but meant we missed the last rest stop. The four of us went on, but we quickly got grumpy as our water bottles drained and hunger grew. We were going to stop at a gas station but we didn’t see one for the next 14 miles. Weird. Anyhow, we got into Grapevine and it only rained on the four of us a little. The rest of the team had followed the directions…sort of. They eventually got lost too and added a few extra miles. Basically we were all tired and hungry regardless of the time we arrived at our hosts’ house. The hosts (my bf’s family and the family of one of the riders on the other route) had an amazing amount of food ready to eat when we arrived, and honestly, I think that was key in making everyone happy after such a long day. Dinner was great. The company was great. And sleeping on a bed was also great. We had all passed out by 11:30p at that the latest.

Day 4

Today we rode from Grapevine to Lindsay, TX, and I dedicated my ride to my grandfather who had melanoma. My bf’s dad rode with us all the way, which was awesome. The weather was nice with very little wind in the morning. We had to be re-routed slightly at one point because it turned out the road we were supposed to take was gravel and then again towards the end of the trip because we realized that we had directions to the wrong high school. The drivers for the day handled everything really well though and had routes for us that got us safely to our destination. This evening people were playing football and ultimate frisbee in the field across the parking lot from the gym. I was surprised (and happy) to see so many people with so much energy. One of the riders’ families also came out to say hi. I think everyone is enjoying themselves so far, but we’re aware that we’re being spoiled with all the food and beds!

Day 5

A few of us slept outside on the grass last night. It was some of the best sleep I’ve had on this trip. I love being out under the stars. Today I dedicated my ride to Lynda Chisman, a good friend of the family who is a breast cancer survivor. We were on the road by ~8a this morning enroute from Lindsay, TX to Ardmore, OK—and our first border crossing! I was riding sag today, which means I was cycling behind our last rider. A few miles into the ride, someone needed to use the restroom, so three of us pulled over at a rest station. While the other two girls were inside I waited outside with the bikes and was approached by an older gentleman who asked where we were heading. I told him and mentioned we were doing a fundraiser for cancer research. He told me his wife was a breast cancer survivor of 15 or 20 years and wished us luck on our journey. While I know that cancer affects a lot of people, I am continually amazed at just how many people “a lot” is. The latter part of our ride today was through a state park, and we’re going to try and get back to swim there this afternoon. During our ride today, I discovered that another one of my teammates also has dual citizenship with Ireland. Small world! When we got into the church, one of my teammates and I went for a short run, and then I followed it up with a short core workout. One thing that I have quickly learned about my teammates is that they are a very hard core bunch and I seem to always be able to find people to do core workouts, etc, with after a ride (except for maybe the 110+ mile day into Grapevine).