DREAMS:

When dreaming, anything in the world can happen - the possibilities are endless! It's all up to your own creativity and imagination to make things happen. You could be a super hero, you can make yourself fly, you can do anything your imagination allows you to do! I used to have these AWESOME dreams where I would be in this glass room, full of flowers, plants, and beautiful nature. And to get around this place I could "fly" around by swimming through the air! It was a reoccurring dream I had when I was younger. I made myself fly! I ALWAYS look forward to sleep because so many amazing things could happen when you're sleeping - you can do things that you NEVER thought you could. I always look forward to my dreams.

LOVE:

So, what is love?

Love is when you can't sleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. That is what love is to me. And I can say full-heartedly, with absolutely NO DOUBT that I am so deeply in love with our team!

After Fayetteville, I guess you could say I developed a little crush on everyone on the team. After getting to know so many people so well and created bonds here and there, I knew that things would only get better.

The spring break trip/ride we did is what made me fall head over heels for the 2009 Texas 4000 team. Spending every hour of those three days, I REALLY started to get to know people. Eating, sleeping, biking, and spending time with the same group of people all day, you really start learning things you didn't know before. I guess you could say, the team definitely kindled my flame!

The first day of the trip, I was assigned as one of the rest stop people/SAG vehicles. I ended up driving and caravanning everyone to swim and to CiCi's! I guess you could call that our first official date, right? I mean, I picked up the team and took them to dinner? Let's call that our first date.

The second day of the trip, we got to New Braunfels where all of us stayed in a gymnasium for the night. A group of us when down to "The Chute" over by Schlitterbahn and had a fun time sliding down the Comal river! And then later that afternoon we took a short trip to Gruene, TX to meet with a local group of cyclists. Upon arriving at Gruene, we discovered live music, beautiful scenery, and the Gruene General Store! However, we had to leave and head back to the gym for dinner. We decided, it would be a good idea to finish eating out dinner as fast as we could and head back to Gruene afterwards!

So, dinnertime came around, and it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I ate as fast as I could and we were all pressing for time b/c the Gruene General Store was closing at 8! So we rushed there, just in time for 15 minutes of buying candy and sweets. [Bad! I know...but hey...candy=carbs, right? And we all know ice cream is good for you! ;)] After everyone was done buying stuff, we walked to the live music and decided to sit in the grass as the sun descended over the horizon. We chatted and relaxed until a few of us started to nod off. We figured, it'd be a good time to head back and sleep.

The next day, was our last day. We rode our hard 50+ miles and finally returned home in Austin. A group of us headed to Posse East, to enjoy some good food and relax after a great trip! Even though we were all absolutely POOPED, a few of us decided that we should go to Barton Springs later that afternoon to swim and relax! I know I was sleepy and tired for a nap, but I wanted to go to Barton Springs! I did pass out on the grass for 5 minutes, but then I was up again, ready for more fun! After Barton Springs, none of us wanted to go home! We wanted to stay out and have more fun! We'd been having such a great time over the last three days, we didn't want to stop now! After a few, quite HILARIOUS, miss-haps with bike (Carolina and David Navar forgot their front tires in the Barton Springs parking lot when we loaded their bikes into my van... When I dropped them off, I jokingly said, "Don't tell me yall forgot your tires! Hahaha" Only to hear Carolina say..."Thaison, where are our tires? ARE YOU JOKING? THIS ISN'T FUNNY." It turns out...when I was loading the bikes into the van, Courtney was handing me one of the bikes with the fork going in first. But I told her, "No, tires first, tires first." Carolina thought I had loaded in the tires first...and then the bikes! Haha, it turns out, she left them leaning against the van...and we left without packing them. So we frantically headed back to see if the tires were still sitting in the parking lot. Luckily! They were!) But before getting the wheels, we made a pit stop and ran around the street trying to find Susan Linn! Apparently she was at The Block on 29th....not the block on 28th... But we all crammed into the van and went to grab the tires.

After getting the front tires, we went to P. Terry's burger joint to enjoy some more delicious food! We all had a blast eating and talking. Then we decided to meet up with some other riders and ended up back at Posse East again! But as it got later and later, more and more people were finally giving in and heading home to get some much deserved sleep.

Moral of the story? After having so much fun on the trip, when I got back to Austin, I didn't want to go home and rest! I wanted to spend more time with my amazing team! I knew there was nothing I could dream up equivalent to the fantastic time I'd been having with the team. That's when I knew I was in love - reality was so much better than anything I could imagine dreaming! I couldn't just go to sleep! That would've been ridiculous!

I learned so much about everyone over the span of those three days. The things I did learn about everyone so far, has just brushed the tip of the iceberg. There is just so much more about everyone I have yet to learn! And by golly, am I willing to commit to that!

So I guess what I'm really trying to get at is.... 2009 Texas 4000 Team, will you be my girlfriend?

*blushes*

Love y'all!

P.S. Sorry for the long journal entry. I had a lot to say :)

P.P.S. I can't wait for the Saturday ride!

P.P.P.S. For any of y'all riders reading this, I can't wait to spend all day, everyday with y'all this summer! I hope I don't annoy you too much :P

<3

Thaison