This past weekend was my first long ride since our century test. Getting back on the bike, I was humbly reminded that cancer never sleeps... not even for final exams or thesis deadlines. Not surprisingly, in the midst of all the final exam chaos, only about 18 riders came out and we split into 3 main ride groups. Only after riding with them did I realize how much I had missed out from not riding these past two weeks. The great thing about cycling is that one can measure his progress. Coming out of the century, I averaged about 16/17 mph. This past Saturday, to keep up with the rest of my group, I had to average 19/20 mph at the least. Nevertheless, by God's grace, we all made it safely to Lockhart, BBQ capital of Texas (about 45 miles southeast of Austin). I must say, the ride out was WARM & HUMID--get used to it Eric; need you be reminded that you're riding through New Mexico and Nevada? As we sat in Black's BBQ enjoying our snack, the owner flipped the channel from Miley Cyrus to the news, and that's when we saw the storm was a comin' like a big red curtain sweeping down through Austin and eventually through Lockhart. Nevertheless, when the time came, we pushed off from Black's to fare the storm and see just how bad it was. Stepping outside, the sun was shining and the heat was still lingering in the air--but as precautions we called for some standby drivers in the case of a thunderstorm. We biked maybe 5 miles up before we hit a wall of ice cold air--a nearly 20 degree drop in temperature, and we all knew then, we were in for a ride. As my teammate Steven commented, we felt like we were in the movie "Twister" when they were driving into the storm as everyone else was heading out. The roads were empty while the chill and winds picked up. Pushing hard to keep up with the team, I rode on chasing after my other teammate Ben. Before we knew it, the rain came down hard, the lightning crashed, and we knew we had gotten about as far as we could for the day. We pulled into the nearest farmhouse and the lady living there, Dee, was kind enough to let us share her roof space--and there we waited for our standbys to come and save the day. I must confess, it was in some way a great team experience. I was so encouraged that while we were all cold and wet, by God's grace our spirits were high. I'm so thankful for the teammates I'll ride with this coming summer. 18 more days. The day's quickly coming.