On Friday, my husband (Randy), my mom, and I left for Lake Tahoe, NV. We left Cerritos at 3:30pm and arrived at the stateline at midnight. On our drive up along a windy hilly road close to our destination, we came across runners wearing neon reflective yellow jackets with a light headgear. I feared for their safety on this busy highway, but they were visible and well lit and vans were following them. It was an interesting spectacle to see.Saturday happened to be my birthday. Because of facebook, my mentor found out about it. She greeted me warmly when our team met up at 8 am for our pre-event ride. We were blessed with a beautiful weather especially because just a few days prior, it was raining and snowing. After our ride, we picked up our packet from the expo. Fortunately, we received a complimentary "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride" sports bottle. I speculated I lost one of my bottles from my bike during one of Randy's sharp turns while driving. Since we had free time before our team's pasta dinner, Randy, my mom and I walked around the area and bought some groceries for breakfast the next day.
Team In Training (TNT) is a nationwide organization which includes Canada. There were 1300 TNT participants out of 3500 cyclists. The coaches and mentors were cheering the participants as we entered the hall in Montbleu Casino, the place we were staying at. There was a guest speaker, the husband of a leukemia survivor. He recalled the details of emotional pain during his wife's battle as if it happened yesterday. On a brighter note, announcements were made for the top individual and team fundraisers and the total amount we had raised-$6 million. My team of 14 participants raised $65k. This will help patients cover the cost of parking during their treatments, pay for the phone bills so that patients can participate in "First Connection" program, hosting community outreach programs to educate others on the importance of our fundraising and the ultimate goal of curing blood cancers.
After the dinner, my team gathered to discuss expectations for our BIG day and to hand out a framed collage to our coaches and the participants received goodie bags from our mentors. Before the meeting started, my team suprised me with a birthday song and handed me a card with everyone's signatures. I was definitely beaming from ear to ear.
Fun facts about Lake Tahoe: largest alpine lake (lakes at high altitudes) in North America, America's 2nd deepest lake (1645 feet) next to Crater Lake in Oregon, lake's circumference is 73 miles, known for the clarity of its water due to small amount of nutrients and the panorama of surrounding mountains, one of the oldest lakes in the world.
The BIG day: My middle group was pedaling faster than our normal speed the first half of our ride. After our turn around from Truckee, I hit my wall on miles 50-60. There were several climbs and each pedal I was dragging. I thought I'm only halfway and I'm already feeling this way. After feeling exhausted for those 10 miles, I hit my second wind. At mile 90, I saw one of the most amazing views imaginable with the snow capped mountains as the backdrop, pristine glittering clear coral blue waters, and the road was curving into a tunnel. I got all choked up because of the breathaking scenery. I am proud to say that I finished strong. My group completed the century bike ride in 8.5 hours ride time and 9.5 hours total time with 5 rest stops.
Within 30 minutes after the event, my legs were aching. As recommended, I took a 15 minutes ice bath for my legs only (the only thing I could tolerate), some motrin, and I stretched. As tempting as it sounds, deep tissue massage should be held for the first 72 hours after the event because the body needs time to buffer the pH from the lactic acid build up. Deep tissue massage can cause more damage to the muscles.
This had been a life changing experience for me because of the relationships I had built and I learned the exciting sport of cycling. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. All of the hardwork was well worth it!
After the dinner, my team gathered to discuss expectations for our BIG day and to hand out a framed collage to our coaches and the participants received goodie bags from our mentors. Before the meeting started, my team suprised me with a birthday song and handed me a card with everyone's signatures. I was definitely beaming from ear to ear.
Fun facts about Lake Tahoe: largest alpine lake (lakes at high altitudes) in North America, America's 2nd deepest lake (1645 feet) next to Crater Lake in Oregon, lake's circumference is 73 miles, known for the clarity of its water due to small amount of nutrients and the panorama of surrounding mountains, one of the oldest lakes in the world.
The BIG day: My middle group was pedaling faster than our normal speed the first half of our ride. After our turn around from Truckee, I hit my wall on miles 50-60. There were several climbs and each pedal I was dragging. I thought I'm only halfway and I'm already feeling this way. After feeling exhausted for those 10 miles, I hit my second wind. At mile 90, I saw one of the most amazing views imaginable with the snow capped mountains as the backdrop, pristine glittering clear coral blue waters, and the road was curving into a tunnel. I got all choked up because of the breathaking scenery. I am proud to say that I finished strong. My group completed the century bike ride in 8.5 hours ride time and 9.5 hours total time with 5 rest stops.
Within 30 minutes after the event, my legs were aching. As recommended, I took a 15 minutes ice bath for my legs only (the only thing I could tolerate), some motrin, and I stretched. As tempting as it sounds, deep tissue massage should be held for the first 72 hours after the event because the body needs time to buffer the pH from the lactic acid build up. Deep tissue massage can cause more damage to the muscles.
This had been a life changing experience for me because of the relationships I had built and I learned the exciting sport of cycling. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. All of the hardwork was well worth it!
