Don't stop!

Don’t stop now…

First of all, the previous weekend, I was part of Day of the Ride. I met up with maybe 400 other cyclists and did a “practice-run” of what a day would look like. That included “parking your bike” getting your rider number, checking in, etc.. It was a cold early morning, but the excitement of being with all the other cyclists helped the day go by. I actually have a blog about this day, but I will share at another time =) so you can see what this day truly meant for me… I will leave it at; I was moved that day, emotionally.

Anyhow, this past weekend was another story. My cycling was supposed to have started on Friday, but I felt something, like a flu- I rested Friday and Saturday- which SUCKED- I was looking forward to riding 3 days in a row. I need to step up the cycling—I only have a few weeks left for the ride. So, Friday and Saturday I just nursed my illness.

Sunday was another story. I met up with 20 other cyclists to do a ride from Azusa to Seal Beach (that was a 72 mile ride). This would be 20 more miles than what I have done. I was really excited, especially since it was thru a bike path (that wouldn’t be as difficult as doing hills). There was only one person that I knew, Mark. We started riding together but I stood behind. Next thing I know, I was riding alone (everyone went into smaller groups). I was okay with it, especially since I have heard that sometimes, during the actual ride, we tend to ride alone. I was in deep thoughts during the first part of the ride. I ended up catching up to a group, only because we took 2 wrong turns—can you believe that? Lol it was cool-

After we got back on track, I ended up riding in a group with 3 other girls (I feel bad since I don’t remember names). We were looking for the rest stop at around 20 miles, but we couldn’t find it. We decided to go all the way to the end and rest at the 36 miles (at Seal Beach). They were a cool group to ride with. We all made sure we took care of each other if we needed to rest.

We made it to the half way point and I was feeling so good inside. I had all this energy; I was ready to do more. We had lunch- damn did that take a long time. There was only one place to eat in Seal Beach and there were other beach go-ers waiting to eat.

During lunch, I ate with Mark and two new friends, Teresa and Al. This was Al and Teresa’s first bike ride. Mark was great in giving us his in-sight of how to prepare for the ride. After we finished, I stood behind with Al and Teresa, they wanted to go slow and I was all for that.

Let me mention, this was around 12-1pm—and it was BAKING hot in Southern California. Although we left the beach, it was STILL HOT AS HELL. I knew that going back to Azusa meant going back to 90+ degrees. See, the bike path was good to ride in since there I no traffic, but at the same time, there is no shade to help you deal with the heat.

Riding back was difficult; there were many times that I wanted to stop. I had drunk a lot of water during the lunch break but I was still thirsty. The water I had started to boil up, it was hard to drink it.

We finally made it to the park to rest. There we saw maybe 6 other cyclists. We took a well deserved break. One of the girls I rode with in the beginning was tired too. She end riding with Al, Teresa and myself. We were all for taking as many breaks as we can (that’s how tired we got). The only problem, we were stopping in the damn heat.

I don’t know what mile we got to, but Teresa went ahead; Al was having a hard time, she couldn’t deal with being in the heat. She went to get her car in case Al needed to be picked up. Who blames her, the HEAT was really hard to deal with.

So, the rest of the ride was Al, and other female (sorry I forgot her name). We all took care of each other. We came across a golf course, and I suggested we go in and see if we can find water and ice. OH MY, we were like little kids in a candy shop. They gave us so much ice, and the water felt so good. After a small break, we rode off. I thought I was feeling better.. but I was not.

We ended up stopping a lot. I started to feel sharp pains in my lower back- my kidneys area. I was determined to finish the ride. At mile 61, I just couldn’t do it anymore. The pain was too much for me to handle. I made some phone calls, and Teresa was able to meet me to pick me up. At first, I felt I let my little group down, because we all were struggling, but we were each other’s cheerleaders. I needed to listen to my body though, I needed to stop. They were proud of what I accomplished.

I met up with Teresa, she took me to my car- damn it was HOT! I called my family and told them I needed to go to the hospital.

The hospital?? What the hell happened to me-- well after some tests, I had suffered dehydration and acute kidney failure. They gave me 5 bags of IV fluids to get me back to normal. I ended staying over at the hospital for the night to get monitored. It was a scary experience. The trooper in me was more concerned of not being able to do the ride. Funny huh? My health is important, but I wanted to make sure I was able to complete this challenge I put myself. Now it is really a challenge?

Lessons learned- need to really monitor my body and be aware of how I hydrate! Am I stopping myself from doing this ride? NO, I just plan to take care of myself more. I committed myself to finish this ride, for those who can’t and I will complete it. But yes, I will be more careful of my health. So that was my challenging weekend. I will be back on my bike after a few days of resting. =)