Day 1: Austin to San Marcos (56 mi)

Today we biked from Austin to San Marcos - a 56 mile journey. We started the day at 4:50 am and kicked off at about 7am. We arrived in San Marcos at about 12:30pm to PB&J sandwiches. Today was a tough ride to me, especially at first. My legs were still tight and not warmed up, and I was definitely working the whole time. Additionally, thinking about Mr. Yin while I rode seemed to make it even more difficult and trying because not only would my body be tired but my heart would be heavy also. Nevertheless, it definitely also made me persevere all the more. James, I'm praying for you and your wife and daughter Jasmine. As I write this my legs are already sore, and I'm nervous about tomorrow's ride - also another 50 miler. I know I can finish it, but I wonder at what pace I can ride. I'm so grateful for this opportunity, and I know our team is growing closer and closer (in more ways than you'd imagine). And while I'm excited about the ride, I'm definitely anxious about these next 70 days leading up to our ATLAS ride. In the meantime, I'll keep pedaling and pressing on through the pain--because pain is temporary, but hopefully our impact lasts a lifetime. Please pray for continued courage, strength, and team safety.

Day 2: San Marcos to New Braunfels (53 mi)

I've arrived at New Braunfels, showered, and eaten lunch. today's ride was not nearly as tough as yesterday's, maybe because we were more warmed up this time. that said, today's route had more hills which feel terrible to climb, but if you keep pedaling, it soon works itself out. Another big event for today... I had my first "big" collision. We were going in a double paceline (which is when two riders ride side by side with a line of riders one behind the other) at about 20 mph when the riders at the front dropped off. I guess Bryn, my teammate in front of me, was following too closely b/c within seconds she had skidded and crashed to the pavement still on her bike. I, following closely behind her quickly braked but I think still hit her wheel and flew over my bike. Luckily, Bryn was wearing her helmet, and it did indeed crack rendering it now useless, but she's doing great with only a few cuts and bruises (she's a fighter). I ended up landing on my hands and side, and thanks to these Pearl Izumi gloves, my hands aren't nearly as torn up or bruised as they would have been. The irony is that I was just complaining this morning that my gloves were already starting to wear down after only one ride. I guess worn out gloves are still better than no gloves at all. In the end, we ended up making it to New Braunfels in one piece at about 12pm. Legs are a bit sore, but nothing unexpecte. All in all, I'm glad I kept at it, even after being shaken up a bit from the collision. In the afternoon we visited a cancer center, which was definitely time well spent. We visited the Cancer Care Center in New Braunfels and the doctors there were kind enough to give the 16 of us a tour of the facility. it was especially enlightening because it was my first visit to such a facility; before this I didn't know how radiation and chemotherapy really worked. We were updated on the latest radiation technology, e.g. Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) or an even newer one called "Immuno-radiation." While we learned a lot, we didn't get to interact with patients due to doc-patient confidentiality. At this center, my eyes were opened to the reality of the amount of time and strain those affect by cancer really endure. The site administrator, Jan, was actually a cancer survivor herself, and she shared with us in more detail what chemotherapy is really like and the toll it took on her body personally. We then heard a brief talk by one of the radiation oncologists and he shared with us some of the historical advances of radiation treatment and also some of the side effects of radiation treatment ranging from loss of taste, dry mouth, infertility to uncontrollable bowel movements. Willing to endure that in hopes of fighting cancer really showed me the true colors of the beast we're riding against this summer. Truly mind-blowing.

Day 3: New Braunfels to Austin (50 mi)

This was the last day of our road trip. We were feeling good, excited to be heading home, and ready to ride the straight shot back to Austin. The day turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and we got to watch the sun rise in the distance over the yellow plains. The horizon had colors I rarely see in the city, a perfect blend of blue from the dawn with red from the sun, with hints of orange and purple in between. There was little wind today which made the ride all the more enjoyable, and before we knew it, we had biked 20 miles and reached the first rest stop. To our pleasant surprise, the later groups also came rolling in soon after. It's exciting to see that we didn't spread out that far between groups, we were all improving as individual cyclists and as a team. For the last stretch, we conquered roads from the Buda Taco Ride, which then seemed so daunting, with much greater ease this time. The hills we remembered as daunting were pushed through with greater ease than we had expected. Truly, our improvement is measurable. Alas, we reached Austin safely and celebrated with an all-you-can-eat buffet of leftover luncheon meat, granola bars, muffins, pretzels, and PB&J from the days before.

Recap:

All in all, these past few days were great. I definitely feel more confident as a cyclist and our team has definitely grown closer. I look forward to our future "road" trips together and the laughs and cries we'll share as we come together, united under one cause. Thanks for reading, and until next time... take care and remember to wear your sunblock. : )