Day 4; Paso Robles to Santa Maria. Halfway to LA!

Day 4; Paso Robles to Santa Maria. Halfway to LA!

Rough day. Emotional day.  Lets blog.

Took off from camp solo, the wife was taking a long time getting ready :)  (I never thought I would ever say that).  It was a nice day. Halfway to LA was in front of us and the Evil Twins (two hills that were supposedly really really hard).

At camp Romi found  deer leg which I subsequently played with and shoved her way.  I don't think she was fond of the voodoo deer leg.  I left it on the bike rack for others :)

After meeting up with Romi at RS1, her and I take off to conquer the Evil Twins.  And there was no conquering.  The hills were tame!  So Easy.  All the riding and training prior to ALC prepped Romi and I to take on the twins no issue.  So we did and up and over them we went!

Halfway to LA was coming up.  The views were amazing.  Today was a crystal clear day.  Somewhat steepish/gentleish rolling hills.  Wonderful California countryside.  At times, views sweeping through the hills to the ocean.  So gorgeous!  We make it to the halfway to LA. Bitter sweet since I did not ride all the miles due to day two, but the accomplishment is still with me and great.About a half hour wait for the picture, but a great picture it was.  I choose to wear my Colorado jersey to remind me of where I came from and what moved me to Colorado, dance, and how dance has forever changed my life out here and also introduced me to Ricardo, for whom I rode.

The line for a picture with the rolling hillside behind us.

Halfway to LA!!!! Ocean behind us, Tardis around my neck, steep drop off behind me as I am perched precariously on a slippery rock!

SWEET DOWNHILL!!!!!  SWEET!!!!  I don't recall for sure but I want to say I got to 35ish MPH.  Straight for the ocean.  So fun. 

Another pic of our rolling countryside.

The first LA sign we see.  Of course we had to take a pic.  Yes, it says 233 miles to LA :)

At the ocean, I had another tearful moment.  The ocean was so blue.  And the views were remarkable. So beautiful.  The water deep blue.  Mi Blue Angel. My Blue Angel.  This was the name of a piece Ricardo did prior to his death.  Actually a long time prior to his death.  I had heard of it, but never but two and two together.  This was his piece about his disease and his coping with it.  I had seen snippets and it was a beautiful piece.  One I had wanted to see him do live.  I cried.  I forgot that I missed him so much.  So to be at peace, with nature, and thinking of him, I knew that at this present moment he was proud of me. A little piece of me was pissed too. It was unfair he was gone too soon.  I wanted to beat the shit out of HIV/AIDS.  How dare it take my mentor, friend and one of San Diego's best artists away from us.

Rest stop along the ocean. One of the two ambulances that stays with the route in the background.

Romi's terrible driving.

At lunch, we meet up with quite a few members of team SD.  We eat, and everyone take off.  Suzi is lingering behind.  I give her a hug before I take off and tell her how much she means to me and thank her for being a supportive TRL, friend and just awesome person.  She says thanks, then I cry, then she cries, then we are both crying in the midst of hundreds of cyclists eating lunch.  I cant help it.  It is an emotional day.  I miss Ricardo. I am in a love bubble. I am learning so much about myself. I miss my boyfriend.  I see Suzi and Carol, her wife and kick ass Roadie, together at lunch and their love for each other is oh so present.  Any one can see how much they mean to each other.  Seeing that made me realize how truly in love I am with Jose, and how terribly I wish he were there to give me the love that only he can give.

Suzi and I.

The many bikes at lunch stop.

Onward, solo (Romi needed some knee therapy at medical) to Rest stop 3.  I actually felt solo too.  I think after the Suzi moment, I felt solo but not alone.  It was a pleasurable ride.  I enjoyed the sites and now more wooded area of California.  I reflected on my past four days.  I thought fondly of my family, friends and Jose. I thought of my future.  I was in a nice place.

Rest stop 3, I met up with David where I snuck a cigarette, enjoyed some BS time with Raquel and David. Alright, so here it is.  David slaps me around silly.  David is a great friend. He knows when to be supportive and listen, and when to kick me in the ass and tell me to buck up.  This was a combo of both.  He told me he was proud of me, to enjoy the moments and experiences and to get back on the bike and ride.  He also tells me I better not smoke after the ride.  He gets it that the ride brings out so many emotions so I forgive myself for restarting a bad habit.  But I promise him and I that this is ALC only, and even at ALC, not a hard core thing, meaning buying a pack or smoking every rest stop.  It was the perfect combo of support and slapping I needed.  I took lots of pictures at RS3.  It was Year of the Dragon themed, and I have a special dragon in my life (don't take it there, I mean a person who is a dragon year) so it really brought a smile to my face.  So I went picture crazy.

Chicken lady!!

Solo again, I take off.  I am spending some good time thinking with myself on what this journey means to me.  Through the training I went through incredible ups and downs.  No need to go into it here, go to past blogs to see that.  But I thought of the loss of a friends baby, the break up of my boyfriend and I, the amazing gift on my doorstep and reconnection with the love of my life, my first bike rides of 5 miles, my first century, my job, my relationships with my family, my coming out to my father.  I thought a lot.  I reflected and feel that at this moment, right here, somewhere in California, I feel whole.  My life feels whole.  I have purpose. I am present. And i know what I want for life, and what life needs from me.  And I feel good that what I am doing is bigger than I.  Doing that is an incredible feeling.

Four miles out from rest stop four, flat tire back wheel.  I check the tire.  Bike tech replaced the wrong tire!!!!  Damn it!  Why didn't I check this out!!!!  Damn it!!!!  Oh yeah, damn it!!!!  So I am kinda upset.  This is day 3 of bad tire issues.  I have an option pull over and replace the flat, only to probably get another flat, or just peddle flat to RS4.  I opted to peddle to RS4.  At this point, I am tired.  I have been riding some 250-300 ish miles, long days, early mornings, my body is shot.  I am cramping, already emotional, and there was no way I was going to fight through a tire change.  SO I rode on.  It was tough, and I thought I may be damaging my rim, but I didn't care.  I just needed a rest stop and the day was starting to tick on, and I didn't want to be swept.  So I rode. I got to bike tech and they say they can get the tire in 20 min.  So I went and enjoyed RS4, had root beer and some snacks. And wouldn't you know, I found a guy who was wearing a penguin jersey of a penguin on a bike.  Of course I had to take a pic of the jersey with the Tardis :)

Off to camp.  My favorite supporter was there.  You may have missed her if you blinked. We were on one side of the road peddling in.  She was on the other side of the road.  Small, little old lady, waving an American flag, with a simple small sign that said Thank You.  The truck that passed her blocked her from view.  A lot of cyclists did not see her.  But she was there, sheering her heart out as loud as she could, though it was so soft.  I cheered back. I thought, wow. What a difference you just made in my day.  The simplest of thank yous.  NO flashy lights, music, signs, commotion. Just a simple sign and small flag.  She made my day and was my favorite cheerleader on the whole route.  So little old lady, THANK YOU!  Thank you for being there for us and giving us that little extra encouragement to peddle on.  I was at my end, and you kept me going.  I am tearing up now as I think of you :)  I am glad you are part of my love bubble.

OK. I am a bubbling mess of tears now. 

I am close to camp on what has been the hardest day for me, physically and emotionally.  We are in town and there are kids on the side of the road giving high fives as we peddle through.  How cool.  They know what we are doing as another cyclist asks, why are we riding.  The kid says, to end AIDS.  He was only 7 or 8. 

I get to camp.  At the camp support people were on the side of the road cheering us in, saying welcome to camp, welcome home.  Crap, this feels like home.  I know I get to go in and take a hot shower, have a hot meal made just for us (salmon and beef tonight) and get to be enveloped in the arms of the ALC love bubble.  Followers, I cannot describe to you this feeling.  We are a family of 2800 cyclists and roadies.  For one week I am a hero. So are they.  We are home, and though I didn't have a cuddle buddy at night (minus my Tardis) I had 2799 people cuddling with me.  I cried.  I was surrounded and drowning in love, but I didn't mind that I was drowning.  I may be missing my family, friends and boyfriend, but I am definitely not alone.  So another Thank You to those on the roadie team who cheered us on every day, and cheered us home every night.  I love you all for what you gave us.  I got to have more David time, and a lovely call to Jose.  Lori Jean said it best. Newbies, today it all comes together.  Today it becomes real.  We are halfway through the journey.  It is almost over and all you want is to have this feeling last forever.  We are start as strangers and end as a family.

Now me and my mini headache are off to bed.

Till next time
Keep peddling