Day 46: Steamboat Springs to Maybell, CO

Date: 7/6/2015
Time: 3.40pm 7/7/2015
Weather: Rainy in the morning, chilly.
Location: campground

This morning was an emotional one. We gathered around for briefing as usual, but today we were greeted by a letter from a 2006 rider of Texas 4000. I will share it when I have the exact copy of the letter. Basically what he said was it's going into day 40 something, crusing into the West coast is when the time that people start to have parties and stuffs. (I've heard that the team will come together close going into the West cause there are not many things here, and we will spend more time with each other.) But never go astray or get too caught up with the routine, always remember the main reason why we're doing this ride, who we're riding for.

I admit that I'm getting used to the routine. Well not now cause I'm sick. But since day 1, I've been making my body get used to sleeping at 10pm, and waking up at 6am every day (4.45am for long days). Hop on bike, pedal, and go all the way till the stayover. Days are hard but the people you ride for will always remind you that every hard days are doable.

The ride started with a foggy and chilly morning. It was a short ride with ton of downhills. So everyone was just taking his/her own sweet time. At about mile 45, when we arrived Craig, I went to the clinic to check out what was wrong with me. The Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic was one of the best. My insurance will normally not get approved. But the staffs still spend time calling the insurance company and I didn't have to pay for anything. I thought I was very ill. The nurse did a Strep test for me, but it turned out to be negative. There's also no white spot on my throat. The doctor said that I'm allergic to the dry weather here. (Apparently this kind of allergy exists). The main problem was the swelling of my throat.

After seeing the doctor, Sarah picked me up from the clinic and dropped me off at City Market for pharmacy. It took me close to an hour to get my meds. Then Sarah picked me up again and we went back to the rest stop. Surprisingly quite a few groups had not left yet. They were waiting on the food donation by Subway-thanks to Zack! We had a bunch of 6-inch and chips for dinner.

At the third rest stop, Angelica showed me her bb gun. And I was playing with it. Then Corinne was like, "Jane shoot me in my chamois!" Of course I wouldn't say no. I failed the first time and shot Corinne right in her shoulder blade. Then I wanted a take two and requested the process to be recorded. Angelica, Hannah, and Haley said I have to be cool in the video. So i ran to the van to get my shades and acted cool, then shot right into Corinne's chamois ! 100% accuracy! Hahahahhahahaha

Then we arrived at the campground. I thought it was gonna be like the campgrounds in state parks or national parks. It's just a campground beside a playground. Welppppp. I was sitting there waiting for Halko and Corinne to reach. As soon as they arrived, we set up our tent. Maybell wasn't as deserted as I thought it would be though. There was a Sinclair less than 5 minutes away from our campground.

We had Subway for dinner and showered at the campground. Then Diego came up with a team game. Random draw a) a person's name b) a weapon c) location. I got Corinne; book; tent. So I have to kill Corinne with a book in the tent-which was perfect cause we were in the same tent. Game starts in the morning.

We went to bed as soon as thunderstorm hit. It was windy and chilly on the outside but it was so hot in the tent that I was suffocating. I have Khrystyna, Corinne, and Halko in the same tent as me.

Day 45: Granby to Steamboat Springs, CO

Date: 7/5/2015
Time: 9.30pm
Weather: A little chilly but it's nice in the morning, rain/fog/storm in the afternoon
Location: Euzoa Bible Church, Steamboat Springs

This morning I woke up feeling so much better! I even went around and told almost everyone I saw that I'm feeling good. I didn't have fever and the soreness of my throat has greatly reduced.

So... I decided to ride.

I asked Emmy if she is willing to ride with me, she said yes. Then I got to know that Hannah and Haley were riding with us too. So it seems like I ditched my "mountain climbing group" -Alex, Sarah, and Corinne, for other people cause Emmy, Hannah, and Haley were in another mountain climbing group. That's not true at all. I just felt really bad for slowing my group down yesterday, we did not just only go super slow, but also we had to stop cause I need to get picked up by the van.

I rode with Hannah, Haley, and Emmy today. The first 27 miles weren't bad at all-Beautiful scenery and flat road/downhills. At the Kum n Go gas station, I got myself teo croissants and 3 cheese cakes, cause there's no gas station/town between mile 27 to stayover. I was feeling pretty okay at the stop so I continued biking after the first rest stop. The part from mile 27 to 50 got a little trickier. There was a decent amount of climb and downhills. Just that the climbs make me feel exhausted.

At the lunch stop I was still feeling good. I just wasn't sure if I should continue biking or not cause the radar showed that we were gonna run into some storms. Hannah was like I've already decided for you, sag in the van. Hahahaha. And so I did. Alex too sagged in the van cause her knees were hurting. As we left the rest stop, we received a call from Lizzie that she was throwing up. Definitely due to altitude sickness though. Poor little girl :(  We picked her up in the van and zoomed downhill to Steamboat Springs cause the only way to cure altitude sickness is by going down to somewhere with lower altitude. I'm glad that she felt so much better wheb we arrived Steamboat Springs.

We couldn't go to the stayover until 7pm cause there was a Sunday service in this church that started at 5pm. So we were chilling at downtown area. Then I got a call from Emmy saying that the fog at the top of the mountain is too bad that they couldn't see anything 10 feet ahead. So Sarah V started shuttling people and she did 3 trips I believe. I stayed in the coffee house with Lizzie, Sam, and Alex. I was feeling good, and ordered a cup of lemon vervain tea (Fun fact: Vampires hate vervain!). Then at about 4.30pm or 5pm I started feeling cold, started shivering, and I know that fever is back. My throat started to hurt a lot more too. All of a sudden I became so weak again. Then we hangout in the coffee house till it closed at 6pm. Lizzie called Sarah V to pick me up so I could go to somewhere warm.

The rest of them were gonna go to the hot springs but I think it was cancelled cause it was gonna rain.. some of them biked to the stayover and some sat in the van. I was gonna go to the clinic as we arrived but all clinic was already closed. I'm gonna go see the doctor tomorrow somewhere along the way to Maybell. I just don't know why it got so bad again... My throat is hurting so much now that I could barely swallow anything. Fever is gone for good cause I took Panadol at 7pm just now.

It has been 3 days since the sickness started. I was feeling good while we did the hardest climb/hardest day. Then I remember taking a nap before dinner and as I woke up I felt so sick. Can it magically disappear just like how it magically appeared, please?

Thanks Haley for waiting up on me the entire ride, thanks Lizzie for taking such good care of me when in fact she's not feeling well too. Also thanks Haley for making a cup of tea for me. Thanks to Zack too for giving me the Emergent-C drink. I swear this is the best group of people I've ever met. I owe you guys so much. :') I'm pretty worried about tomorrow cause we're gonna camp. And Maybell is a pretty deserted town. :/ If I don't update my blog tomorrow, I'm probably out of service...

Ps:  I biked 50/84 miles today. Most of them stopped due to heavy fog, or cloud (as Joe claimed) at mile 66. Good that I stopped at mile 50 or else I will get hypothermia, or getting soaked in the rain. I'm not riding tomorrow. (There goes my mileage....) hopefully everyone who didn't feel good will feel better tomorrow. Hopefully I will get better too...

Photos:

Day 44: Idaho Springs to Granby, CO

Date: 7/4/2015
Time: 2pm 7/5
Weather: Chilly, Sunny
Location: St John church Granby

Happy fourth of July!

44 days in, for the first time I felt so sick. I wasn't feeling well the night before, but I thought I was just exhausted from the climbs, and maybe from the altitude sickness.

I woke up having bad headache and fever. I did 10 miles (out of 58) of the ride, and then I stopped. I wasn't feeling well. So there goes my first time sagging in the van. I never thought it'd be so bad. I was gonna stopped riding until lunch and hop back on. Who knows... it got worse and I was just napping in the van all day.

I learned a lot from Sarah V. for the van chores. I learned how to put the bikes on the rack at the back of the van, learned where to put the PBJ box, cooler, bread box, etc. Well she definitely does it better.

We arrived at the lunch stop at the recreational area. It was kinda chilly but to me, it was freezingly cold. I couldn't stop shivering. I locked myself up in the van for 2 hours to warm up.

Some of the guy hiked up the mountain and they left pretty late. When the last group-Lauraleigh, Brian, and Shutian left, it started raining, so we ended up having all three of them in the van too.

As we arrived the church, I took a sink shower and went to take a nap again. I woke up at 9.30pm, and everyone else has already gone to the rodeo for 4th of July celebration.

My throat was hurting so much that I couldn't swallow anything. But I had to eat something before I take my meds. So I asked for permission to get some oatmeal and I ate it with milo. I wished I could get porridge...

I continued sleeping at 11pm. Before that I received a call from Heng, he was saying that the most extreme case of altitude sickness is pneumonia. I thought I was gonna die tbh. Then I started talking to Ks about how much I appreciate him, appreciate the love I've been receiving from my teammates, my parents, and what can he do for me when I'm gone. Lol I got really sad idk why.

Okay story should end here. I went to bed after taking some medications.

Thanks momma Hannah for the goodnight kiss; thanks Haley for asking me if I'm feeling better almost every minute; too many thank you I had to say but I really appreciate everyone on the team. You guys are the best! #I4Klove

I'm  a little upset cause I didn't get to celebrate 4th of July. I've never had a celebration and Lizzie has been mentioning to bring me out this time. But.. I just got sick at the worst timing ever... welll....

Day 43: Denver to Idaho Springs, CO

Date: 7/3/2015
Time: 8.45pm
Weather: Nice, chilly as we reached the top of the mountain
Location: Someone's house in Idaho Springs

I've been so nervous about today, especially with the two rest days that we had, my mind and body weren't ready for this tough day. I didn't want to look at the elevation graph before the ride cause I know I will freak out.

The beginning of the ride was a bit of an elevation. The road looks flat but I can feel it. I was actually panting slightly. We went at 12mph on a "flat" road. We stopped at a gas station cause Sarah and Corinne had to use the bathroom. That was the time I started feeling the congestion in my nose and throat, along with some minor coughs.

I thought it was just sinusitis so I didn't give much thought about it. As we started climbing, I feel like I was breathing way heavier than everyone else. Again, I assume that it was normal since higher altitude has lower air pressure and lower oxygen level. The hardest part of the climb was between mile 27-40, which was exactly right  after our lunch rest stop. While we were about to leave the rest stop, Ben called Joe, and Joe was saying to us that this coming part is gonna be rougher and steeper, so the van will hangout with us along the way, just in case any of us need assistance.

My group started off with 5mph, then 4, then 3... We had to stop almost every 1.5-2 miles cause it's just so hard to breathe. It's not about not having strong quads anymore, it's the breathing. I don't know about the rest of us, but I know that I had so much trouble breathing, and had very terrible headache. I can hear my head pounding, as if the vessels are having a rock party.

I kept going with multiple stops. I did my best but at the same time did not push myself over my limit. I stopped when I needed to. The part at mile 38 was a little of downhill. It got us 0.7 mile in less than 2 minutes. And the last rest stop at the top of the mountain was at mile 39 ish.

I started crying when I saw the van. Then Sarah cried too. It's just... too hard and when we finally made it, it means so much to me. 13 miles of climbing with 3000ft+ of elevation, and finally hitting the top of the mountain at 11, 000 feet, that feeling is incredible and indescribable.

After mile 40, we had 12 miles of downhill. It was so scary I swear. I was pressing on my brakes all the time that I hurt my fingers. Yet, I was going at an average of 18mph-WITH BRAKES. Also, it was so chilly when we were going downhill. At one point I was just trying to loosen up my muscles on my palm and elbow, and a gust of wind hit me, I went off the shoulder and I swear to God I almost died. Corinne said I scared her so much.. sorry Corinne!! :/ I did not fall though, I went back on the road and continued biking.

Then we arrived at our stayover. It's a house, looked abandoned cause the family is in Costa Rica. It's kinda creepy actually. The abandoned house has dusts, dead mouse, flies, and some weird bugs. Also there were so many cards pasted on the wall, they were all drawn by kids. Idk it feels very creepy...... :/

I'm just gonna go to bed now. I was fine when the ride ended. Felt a little tired which is normal. But after I took a short nap right before dinner, I felt the headache is kicking in, terrible sore throat, minor coughs, congested nose, and feverish. Emmy gave me her meds (thanks Emmy!! ) and hope that by tmrw all these bad things will be gone. Thanks mama Hannah for the hugs. Thanks Lizzie for the gatorade. Thanks Diego for kept asking me to drink water and did my dishes for me. Thanks Ben and mama Haley for asking me what's wrong with me. With all the love that I'm receiving, I'm pretty sure I'll be good by tomorrow! #muchlove

I'm so glad that all of us made it through the ride today. We're definitely the strongest and most optimistic team ever! Good job everyone!!

Day 40: Fort Morgan to Denver, CO + 2 rest days

Date: 6/30/2015-7/2/2015
Time: 10pm
Weather: VERY HOTTT (34C) and sunny
Location: Boulder, CO (Heng's house)

Third century ride! Silly Josh made it 99.4 miles instead of 100 miles. However, with the amazing detours on the trail we made it to 101 miles actually. LOL

As per usual, long day means early wake up. I was up at 4.30 am cause I was in charge of wake up and breakfast. I woke up and packed my stuffs, but when I was gonna boil water for oatmeal, I found out that Ben has already done it for me. I felt so bad for this :( Then I went to the van to grab oatmeal, then continued packing my sleeping bag and stuffs. It wasn't a very good morning for me though. Ben, Sarah, and Lizzie know what happened but I'm fine nowwww :)

I rode with Corinne, Sarah, Lizzie, and Hannah B yesterday. It was a fun day! We started our ride with riding into headwind. We were pulling at ~15mph. Then we kinda all slowed down and started talking. Time flies when you talk. I agree with what Corinne said to me that day, "I feel safe when I bike with the people I can trust." It's always good to bike with people you can trust, cause--bonding sesh + fun time + safe.

That century ride was a long one. But it was fun so it doesn't matter at all how tough it was. You know someone is there for you to go through everything with you, patiently.The hardest part was probably the part where we were headed to Wendy's rest stop. In only 15 miles, I was already out of water, and headache was kicking in due to the heat. It was so hot. I thought I was gonna pass out tbh. The second toughest part was when we had to go through several detours while we were on the trail. But I knew we were gonna make it cause Corinne is a super pro navigator!! :D I didn't know which way we were going but I know whichever way that Corinne picked was the right one. Hahahah

It was 5.30pm when we arrived at the church. I had some food for dinner while waiting for Heng to pick me up. I thought he was gonna drive here, but he didn't manage to get the car in time, so he took a 2-hour bus here to pick me up. I'd have waited for the next day if he told me earlier. :3

Two rest days followed by the century ride. Definitely the happiest days! However my phone was dead the entire day and I was really upset. The next day I went to ubreakifix in Boulder to check out what was wrong with my phone. It turned out to be the charging port's prob. Then I suspected the battery problem too. So I literally spent the two rest days deciding whether to get a new phone or to get external battery charger. I chose the latter but none of the shop I went to sells an original Samsung external charger. Zzz. Then I finally found a external charging port at Batteries +bulbs. They don't have the original one, and it's not a very good charger. But... I'll just use this for now. Please pray that I can survive with this
cheap charger for the next four weeks.

Heng, Tun Sheng, Patrick, and I went to the Rockies on the first rest day. It was absolutely breathtaking! Too bad there were thunderstorms and rain so we didn't go all the way up the mountains. We did stop at different parks to take photos. Fun fact: They're called 'Parks' cause the French called it 'Parque' so it sounds similar as 'park'. Different parks means different region of the mountains so it's easier for the ranger to take care of the mountain. After that we went to this restaurant owned by a Malaysian boss. She gave us free sushi!! I had char kuey teow-I've been craving for it since very long ago. I definitely recommend it cause it's great! Also when the lady asked what am I doing here, I told her about I4k and I biked here, she thought I was joking and messing with her. I had to show her my terrible tanline lol.

The second rest day (today) I went to see doctor and get a new spare battery. Idk why Urgent care was so inefficient. I spent 3 hours waiting to see the doctor, and spent 40 minutes waiting to get my meds at Rite-Aid. Ugh. We went to an Indian restaurant for lunch. Then we went home, and I got ready with my bags and stuffs and left Heng's house at 6.30pm. :( Then he dropped me off at the church cause I needed to talk to Ben about the meeting I missed earlier. Then Heng, Tun, and I went to HK barbecue to have dinner. I'm already missing Heng's house. It's cool and comfy there... I mean, I miss Heng too. He was the one who was with me all the time to get my phone fixed, driving me here and there, brought me to get good food, and explored Rockies with me. He's definitely a keeper-always helpful and go all out to help his friends, plus he can cook super good meals and clean his house very often. Hohoho #singleandavailable

Tomorrow's ride is gonna be super hard-in fact the hardest of all that we have ever been through. Conquer the Rockies, they say. I'm ready, my body says. I'm kinda nervous, my mind says. Whatever it is, I will and I can do it.

Good night. :)