I Am So Honored

We're packing up the van and will be leaving shortly for Tahoe.  The past couple days I was feeling like I was coming down with or fighting something.  I REFUSE TO GET SICK!  I will ride on Sunday.  For all my honorees and even for those I don't know ... I will ride.  With what cancer patients have to endure, I will not complain.  I will ride.  I will ride with honor.  And I'll have fun, too :-)

(Thanks, Dar, for making my button.)

Providence

Today was our "send-off ride." One last easy ride before Tahoe next week.  44 miles in Napa with a potluck meeting afterwards, during which we'd receive our preliminary ride packets.  

Although I missed another day at church, for some reason I knew I had to be at this ride and not just because important information was going to be distributed.  I thought it was about supporting the TEAM and the honorees who would be there, but it ended up being so much more.  It was divine providence really ...

See the lady in the picture with me?  No, she's not on the team, but she did come ride along side us briefly towards the end of our route.  In fact, she called out my name!  And I was all, "Do I know you?"  She said, "You don't recognize me?  Sandy.  Sandy from your accident."

I let out a loud, "OH MY GOODNESS! SANDY!? The Sandy that helped save my life?!"  And it was, indeed, her.  I told her I needed to hug her and take a picture with her, so we pulled into the driveway of a nearby school.  

We hugged, we shed a few (happy) tears, and shared a few memories from that fateful day.  You see, Sandy and her friend were riding up the hill that I had just descended and crashed on. Sandy held my head steady until the fire department came.  I also learned Sandy's friend went to one of the nearby homes to call the fire department as soon as they realized the friend I was riding with was unable to get a cell phone signal to contact anyone.

AMAZING.  I was quite dumbfounded.  I had exchanged a couple emails with her after the accident, but I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd ever get to meet her or thank her in person. What are the chances of that?!?  

Apparently, she's friends with someone on the team, but in a different ride group than mine. She ran into him during our ride, and knowing I was on the team, she asked him to say HI to me. Well, there's about 50 people on our team, so he didn't know who I was.  Someone else in his ride group said, "Oh, Tessa?! Her group came by here just 5 minutes ago."  So she caught up to us, and the rest I already told you about.

Just before we parted, I told Sandy that I'd forever remember her and that she'd always have a special place in my heart.  What a precious moment, what a wonderful gift.

See ... I knew I had to be at this ride!

On Again ... Off Again ... And On Again !!

NO ... that's not a description of my love life!

It does, however, describe my participation in June's Tahoe Century Ride. YES ~ IT'S ON AGAIN! (Thanks to my brother, Rob and Craigslist.)

 

*(Just to recap: first I was riding Tahoe; then, I wasn't because I transfered my funds to the Seattle to Portland Ride with the intention of registering as an individual for Tahoe, but it was sold out.  But on Friday, my bro. found someone who can no longer make it to Tahoe, and now the registration is mine!)

As I mentioned in my previous post, yesterday was Tahoe's benchmark ride ~ 75 miles from Petaluma to Jenner and back.  We cycled through some of the most beautiful sites I've seen yet ~ Valley Ford, Occidental, Jenner, and by the many beaches of the Sonoma Coast along Hwy 1.  

SPECTACULAR is all I can say!  I most definitely want to do that ride again.

The weather was not the blundering heat we were expecting. In fact, along Hwy. 1, it was actually cold because of the fog, which we welcomed.  (Below is a picture of a wave having just come into shore ... it's not so clear because the fog was so dense.)  We realized that the fog was a gift to us, as we probably would have run into each other and crashed from being in awe of the sights, had it been a clear day.

On Friday, I received an email that a new friend of mine was diagnosed with MS.  She's decided to train for Waves to Wine in hopes that she'll start "living again."  

I was mindful of her while riding on Saturday and of her newfound perspective.  I made it a point to take in the beauty of God's wondrous creation ~ the colors of flowers along the road, the sounds and views of waves crashing onto shore, the smell of the ocean and even the not so pleasant aromatics of cows, skunk, and roadkill. 

As painful as my lungs and legs were at times, they served as reminders that I can breathe, I can move, I can ride.  And many cannot ~ whether it's because of leukemia, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and numerous others too many to list.  So while I can, I want do my part to help those who can't.  So can you ... will you?

GRILL

Check out my new chops!  

These aren't even the permanent ones yet!  

I was so pleasantly surprised at how the retainer came out and so overwhelmed with how the entire staff at Dr. Buchanan's office took care of me over these past months that I admit ... I was moved to tears and hugs!

Rebob Sheebop

This upcoming Saturday is the benchmark ride for Tahoe's America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. We'll be doing 80 miles from Petaluma to Jenner, but I'll write about that next week.  Today - I wanna fill you in on the short 40-mile buddy ride we had in Napa this past Saturday.

First of all, there were these strange emails going back and forth about BEWARE THE REBOBS.  We were warned to not fall back on Patrick Road.  And the last email was the best with pictures of bats and a vampire-like creature.  I was all, "Who the heck are the Rebobs?Must be some really mean neighbors along Patrick Road.  Maybe we need to be quiet, so we don't wake them?" More on the *REBOBS later.

Secondly, it's really odd that we now consider 40 miles to be "short."  But lemme tell you, there was nothin' short about it.  We started in Yountville and headed into Napa, a portion of the time trial route we did at the beginning of the season, to which they added "a respectable hill."

I did fairly well, until the mid-point of the ride which was a 4-mile climb up Patrick Road, the "respectable hill."  They said the first 1/2 mile of the ride was the toughest, and boy did I know it ... my lungs and my legs also knew it.  A few of us stopped in some shade a couple times and debated whether to turn around or give the hill another try after our lungs got back in our chests.  At about mile 2.5, we'd had enough.  We waited to see some of the team fly down the mountain before heading back.  The descent was a screamer.

So my ride was cut short by about 4 miles (in the middle), but I made it home, safe, sound, and strong.  But I most definitely did not hydrate enough.  

*THE LEGEND OF THE REBOBS - Every town has their spooky legend.   In Napa, all the locals know of the Rebobs that live up on Patrick Rd. near Browns Valley.  The story is long, long ago, there was a weird scientist who mutated monkeys (or kangaroos) and humans for combat purposes. Apparently, they got loose, killed the scientist, and people who venture up Patrick Road ... a winding hill under big scary trees (where the Rebobs live) that opens up at the top to big fields where people have had all kinds of unexplainable things happen to them.

I'd like to thank the academy ...

I'm so excited!  On Wednesday, I'll be getting my braces off!  

I was already wearing braces when I crashed back in July.  The neat thing is, several doctors mentioned that had I NOT been wearing braces, I'd probably have lost more of my teeth.

I'll be wearing my new retainer, which will have 4 prosthetic teeth on them. After my cycling event in July, I'll begin the (dental) implant process, which will probably take 6-8 months to complete.  And then that will mark the end of my post-accident treatment plan.  The end is in sight, and I'll finish well thanks to my fabulous health care team!

Dr. Robert Wagner, Maxillofacial Surgeon

Dr. Joseph Buchanan, Orthodontist

Dr. Petra Kubler, Physical Therapist

Dr. Jennifer Manickam, Primary Care Physician

Dr. Jessica Melchior, Occupational Therapist

Dr. Larry Lim, General Dentist

Dr. Susan Salem, Chiropractor

Dr. Mark Price, Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Nestor Karas, Maxillofacial Surgeon

Dr. Curtis Barmby, Prosthodontist

Repose

Women's retreat was wonderful!

The dishes they served, delectable.

The speaker was a spark plug.

And the messages, quite meaningful.

Sorry, feeling kinda Dr. Seussical ;-)

My massage, oh how mesmerizing.

The bungee swing, energizing!

Walks and talks with friends old and new.

Excited about what God's done and will do.