by Thaison Nguyen
Jun 13, 2009
Stephenville to Dallas:
Yesterday was yet another incredible day. We rode from Stephenville to Dallas. We were up early in the morning to do a ride dedication with our hosts and a few Atlas volunteers who were a part of Team Jan. It was an absolutely incredible start of the day. We all took turns dedicating our ride to someone as we rotated through the circle.
To finish it off, I was given the duty to the haka again. In case y'all don't know what the haka is...it's a little chant created last year by Rocky Rhodes to boost team moral and get spirits high and adrenaline pumping before the ride. I will post a video of it if I get a chance to.
Then we were off and heading out way to Fort Worth. The ride went very smooth and we finally got to out meeting location where we were to pack all of our 23 bikes into the trailers and fit all 23 riders into the two vans to be transported to Baylor Medical Center. Since the Fort Worth/Dallas roads are dangerous and hard to navigate, we decided that it was safer to transport the riders by car. Amazingly enough, we fit all the bikes into what little room we had in the trailer, on the roof racks on top, and stuffed between the seats of the van. Then we all piled in nice and cozy as we departed to the medical center.
The most of us passed out once we got in the car. I'm sure there are at least a few sleeping pictures circulating amongst the group and maybe on facebook. Before I knew it, I was passed out myself and when I opened my eyes...we were in downtown Dallas and on the way to Baylor Medical center!
We got to our parking and then unpacked our bikes to ride to the actual medical center itself. Upon arrival, there were media and news crews waiting. We stacked our bikes against the walls and then we were off to see a presentation about the new cancer center being built in 2013. It was incredible to see another cancer center besides MD Anderson and to meet people involved in all of it. We took a short tour and went to meat the outpatients upstairs. We met a man who is currently fighting bone cancer. He told us that he was having a bone marrow transplant the next day and we promised to dedicate our ride to him the next day. Which Jawad and Greg and a few others did this morning (6/10/09). We all hope that your bone marrow transplant went well and that you're back out on oil rigs as soon as possible!!
We also met a woman who's husband was diagnosed with cancer as well. He was currently being treated for it and only wished to be there to watch is son (14) grow up and get married. We dedicated our ride this morning to Chris and her husband and son as well this morning. You can beat this cancer!!!
After the visit, we rode away from the medical center and towards Emma Miller's house!! After turning onto her street, we rolled into her driveway to find about 20 people in the grass and the driveway yelling, cheering, clapping their hands, and taking pictures. They even had a banner that said "Trek on Texas 4000." Talk about a warm welcoming!!!
Emma's mom, Debra and Aunt Barbara were absolutely amazing ladies who went WAY out of their ways to make live OUTSTANDING for us!!! They had Mexican food upon our arrival, water bottles, gatorade, and Sangria/beer for those of age. She also had towels ready for all of us, a place to sleep, and a POOL for us to swim in and a pool TABLE to play pool!!!!! On top of that...she was up until 2:30 in the morning washing and drying clothes for us! Talk about getting spoiled! She was the most absolutely amazing lady ever!
And Aunt Barbara was also an OUTSTANDING host. She had food ready for us, constantly asked if we needed anything and was always trying to make our lives easier on us.
These two ladies SPOILED US SO MUCH!!! And then soon enough, we went to bed so we could rest up for the 90 mile day the next day.
Here's a short video blog I made with Lauren Bissey the night we stayed at Emma's house:
Day 4 Video Blog - Me & Lauren from Thaison Nguyen on Vimeo.
One of many scenes on the journey to Dallas:
I CAN FIGHT CANCER!
Packing the trailer with all of our bikes. We fit 23 bikes in the trailers and vans. Did NOT need to move any of the bags. Moral of the story: Rockies > Sierras.
We rode on the frontage of I-35:
We saw this AWESOME road:
Welcome to Dallas T4K!
Dallas to Lindsay:
Yet another incredible day on the Rockies route!! We were up early in the morning at Emma's house and woke up to the smell of bacon frying and fresh brewing coffee. BEST THINGS TO WAKE UP TO, EVER!!!!
Yet again, Debra and Aunt Barbara had managed to spoil us again!! We ate like kings for breakfast. Some ate so much we couldn't even imagine what it'd be like to RIDE. We were TOO FULL!!!
We did another ride dedication before we left and everyone shared their stories as well. We had Javier and Todd B. joining us that morning as well! Jan's mom was there, Jeff's parents were there, and of course, Emma's mom and Aunt Barbara were there. We dedicated our rides that day and Michael led the haka chant this time. Then we were off to Lindsay, TX!! I had never heard of this small town before, but trust me...I know it exists now!!
We were off on the road and things started off a little rough. The weather was sprinkling on us, we had a few falls and close calls, but after our first rest stop...things seemed to be getting better. UNTIL...we met the HEADWIND!!! We had a STIFF headwind for about 10-15 miles. Maybe more or less. It was incredibly tough!! The double pace line I was in definitely helped a lot, but it was still no easy task!
We met at the next rest stop to find out that we had....SUBWAY, SWEET TEA, AND GROCERIES DONATED!!! It was an absolutely delicioussssss lunch rest break. Thank you Subway, Chicken Express, and Diamond Grocery store for your generosity!
After downing a fourth of a foot long, powdered donuts, pickles, PB&J's, and sweet tea, we were off on the road again!!
The areas we passed through didn't really change all that much. we saw a lot of land with a lot of cows, horses, and baby cows and horses!! But as we rolled up to the last rest stop....
We found fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, french fries, fried okra, sweet tea, and so much more donated to us! Thank you Golden Chick!! It was incredible to have another food source besides powerbars and gels and PB&J's.
As we all regrouped at the last rest stop, we saw the clouds turn a DARK GRAY color out of nowhere!! Courtney Somerville pointed at the sky and asked if any of us saw this coming. And we did NOT expect anything like that at all. 5-10 minutes later we were on our bikes, flashies on, and riding into the 10-20 degree cooler weather! We had a few trickles of rain, but only had a 6 mile ride to Lindsay.
We arrived at the high school gym and all packed into the gym to check out what all was there for us. And I grabbed the soccer ball to kick around with a few of the other teammates! We had always talked about playing soccer, but never got around to it until today!
Then we all cleaned up and got ready for dinner, which was cooked by Kasaundra's parents and friends. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! We had deviled eggs, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, ham, chips, drinks, and an LARGE assortment of desserts. Everything was absolutely incredible!!
We also signed a UT flag for Deadra, who was just recently diagnosed with cancer. She was receiving treatment and was fighting it, so couldn't make it out to see us. I dedicate my ride this summer to Deadra as well!
I started to mingle around to see why all of the Rockies team members had chosen the Rockies Route instead of the Sierra Route. I found out a lot of interesting reasons.... and found out people who originally wanted the other route! I bet their glad they're coming with us now!!
As we were eating dinner, the storm picked up and it looked like a tornado was about to form right outside our window!! But instead, it was raining sideways from all the wind and then....BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched as lightning struck about 100 yards from the door. I saw sparks fly up everywhere and the power started to go out...
We continued to eat until afterwards someone came in from outside to yell....'HEY GUYS!!!! THERE'S A RAINBOW OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!"
I yelled at as many people as I could to go outside to look at the rainbow and take pictures. Everything looked TOO beautiful to be true. The scenery was something you always read in books, but never saw in real life. It was slightly eerie, but so AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!!
I went around the side of the building to see how the sun was lighting up the area so oddly...and then I saw all the beautiful cotton ball clouds and the sun piercing through the sky. it was 8:30 pm and it was completely sunny outside as the sun began to set. Everything looked so fake!!
Lauren Bissey and I took advantage of the rain and the puddles in the water and went running around splashing water at one another. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! I watched as she jumped up and into a puddle for me to take a picture. I saw her legs slip out from under her and then BAM!!! He whole butt and legs were sitting under three inches of water in the grass!! After taking a few pictures, I decided it was a good idea to sit down with her in the rain puddle and tell stories to one another. I definitely shared many of my past experiences with her. It was so nice just to sit and watch beautiful mother nature create a painting before our eyes. As the sun set behind the trees, we saw the painting change to different colors. Some hues became very strong and other things began to get darker and darker.
Pre-soakage:
Post-soakage:
Then...it got freezing cold because the sun was almost gone. We decided to come inside and see what all the yelling and hooting and hollering was all about. PICTURE TIME!!!! A group was forming for picture with the gracious cooks and people who were feeding us tonight.
I went to wash off all the dirt, grass, and rain water off of myself and when I came back into the room.... it was....
DODGE BALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ladies who were hosting us at the gym left us dodgeballs for us to play 10 v. 10 dodgeball!! Talk about FUN! In the end, it was a tie breaker - two games to two games, so we played for one last time in which my team came out VICTORIOUS!!!!!!!!! WE ROCK!!!!
It was so much fun!! I hope Jeehyun filmed enough to be put into his film. It was a lot of fun I haven't had since elementary school! I couldn't imagine the last time I played d-ball! But man, was it fun!
What a beautiful day...
-Thaison
 |
 |
 |