|
| BP MS150 experience!I wanna update more!!! I will forget things that have happened in my life if I don't!
Update on my life:
*BP MS150 (Bike from Houston to Austin): So recently I was crazy and I entered into the MS150. As it came closer, I was kind of freakin out because I had only trained ONCE for only 20 miles AND I didn't have a bike! But I kind of just took it on like everything else in my life with the "I'll deal with it when it comes" kind of attitude. (NOT a good idea.)
The week before the MS150 I told myself to ride a bike more or...ride those stationary bikes...or SOMETHING so I won't die during the weekend. BUT I had SO many projects due that week that I did not physically prepare myself. The only thing I did was buy some bike shorts on sale for $20. I DID buy a road bike at the Yellow Bike Project for only $50 2 days before the ride. It's a beautiful old antique looking bike but some friends had told me not to ride it because I looked awkward in it. ha-ha. You have to sit in a totally different position than mountain bikes. I had not decided which bike to ride till the night before. I decided to take my mountain bike which is much harder than an expensive road bike because:
1) The tires are smaller in diameter (mine at least). Therefore, one stroke takes you less.
2) It (mine at least) does not have straps or anything to connect to your shoes so basically you only have the DOWN stroke and not the UP stroke like you would in most road bikes.
3) It has more traction on the tires which slows your pace.
4) It is not aerodynamically inclined as the road bikes are.
SO the MS150 came around and I was slightly nervous for the 2 days ahead of me. My GOAL in the beginning was to NOT take the SAG bus (the bus that picks people up and drops them off at the next stop if they don't think they can make it). Me and Monica started at Waller which is 20-25 miles in from all the other starting points...it made a perfect 150 miles.
The first stretch was only about 10 miles until a break point. I remember wondering when it was going to end because we had been riding for a long time already. haha. Monica's speedometer had told us it was past 10 miles already! I remember forcing myself to exert all the energy I could summon to finish that first stretch. We finally saw a break point in sight and was very thankful!
The rest of the ride was....kind of a blur now. I think I should have written this earlier when it was fresh on my mind. I just remember...my thighs, my back, and my ass (crotch area) hurting a lot but the painful reminder that I had to keep going. The first day...I really think me and monica were one of the last ones to finish...along with 2 other people who were also riding road bikes. So the four of us were talking about riding the sag bus because Monica really wanted to and so did the guy. But me and that other girl REALLY didn't want to take the sag even though we were in SUCH pain. I was SO tired. My eyes were bloodshot. I was ready to give up and change my goals. By that point I had already been proud to ride so far without training ON A FREAKIN MOUNTAIN bike already. BUT we rode on till we got to La Grange where we would sleep.
When we arrived people were cheering and shouting. There were tents eeeverywhere and I could smell BBQ! I seriously thought "man, this is GOOD ENOUGH for me. Crossing THIS finish line is like...good enough." I was SO fucking tired and I was already proud of myself for even getting there. I mean...if you had been on that ride with me and felt the pain and agony...you would know...that it was a huge accomplishment already. I had already felt relief and me and monica were seriously considering taking the bus all the way back to austin the next day.
Me and monica finally found our tents that were already set up for us. We ate a very satisfying dinner and then got ready for bed. Then we joked about crying ourselves to sleep. Monica just fell asleep with all her dirty, stanky, sweaty clothes on and said "well, we're just going to get up and ride our bikes and get all sweaty tomorrow anyway!"
I agreed...but I cannot sleep when I am so dirty. I waiting in line for the showers for SO LONG. like 45 minutes. I half wished I had just gone to sleep like Monica did. I did make a few friends in line that went to UT too! They were freshmen and sophomores and were really cute and hard core about biking. They asked me, "so do you usually bike too?" and i was like "uhm...no...never...not since the 4th grade." And when I had told them I was riding my mountain bike they were shocked. They told me all the SAG busses I take evens out everything. The girl told me that she had tried riding 30 miles on her mountain bike and it was 5 times more painful than her road bike. She was actually the one that explained to me the whole...UP stroke and DOWN stroke thing and how I had a huge disadvantage. I didn't even know! OH when it was almost my turn to shower, guess what happened? THE LIGHTS TURN OFF!
I was like hhhhhwaaaaaaaattt?!?! You can't dooo this! I waited so long and biked such a painful, long ride up here!!
Everyone groaned and whined until someone got someone to turn it back on. PHEW!
I finally got to shower and said bye to my new friends. I walked back to the tent and just laid there with EVERYTHING hurting. I think my spot was right on top of a branch or something because it was not very comfortable. I could not find a comfortable position. EEVERYTHING hurt! I texted some friends and told them I wanted to give up! I joked about not being able to have babies anymore because my private area hurt so much! haha. My ass hurt too but especially my back and my thighs. God I was in pain...AND it was COLD. I had not thought of bringing warm clothing. I texted my friends until I could fall asleep.
The next morning. I heard people getting up at 4 but I did not want to get up. I heard people getting up at 5 but I did not want to get up. I heard people getting up at 6 and I heard them start the ride off but I did not want to get up. I remember saying "monica...monica...monica...monica....i think they're all leaving" and Monica saying "shuuttuuup! i'm sleeeping." SO I went back to bed because I was thinking we would probably catch up by riding the SAG bus today anyway. Waking up that morning I had already changed my goals....actually I had already changed my goals BEFORE I went to sleep. I was going to take the SAG today at LEAST once. You hear about the MS150 and you think all the losers take the SAG bus but its not the case! You have to wait a long ass time to get onto the SAG bus. EVERYONE is lined up to get on it. Anyway, someone finally came to wake us. Me, monica, and this other girl (who was very nice and funny) laughed because most tents were gone and we were one of the only ones left sleeping.
Anyway....we rode our bikes to the first break point. The 2nd day, I had like...new energy or something because I was doing a lot better that day. But DON'T get me wrong. It was still painful for my ass and my thighs and my back. Sometimes I would get up on my pedals and just close my eyes and PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL PEDAL until my thighs gave out on me and I had to sit down. I would whimper silently (or not so silently) as my legs forced me to sit. I had to constantly remind myself that this was for people Multiple Sclerosis who would not be able to ride this...very painful ride. I had to train myself to ignore the aches and pains shooting through my body, making me close to being miserable. No...there were points where I was really miserable. But also points where I was having fun. It was an even mix I guess...maybe more misery. lol
The worst sight when you are riding a long ride is a GIANT, STEEP hill right in front of you. I would curse my old self for signing up for this as I got closer. Going down a hill is pretty fun. The wind is blowing at you and it is peaceful for a while...which is what I thought the whole ride was going to pretty much be like...with all the scenery and beautiful nature around you. I mean I knew it was going to be painful but not THAT painful....to the point where I seriously thought I was in boot camp...like maybe a fat camp. hahaha. The worst parts were going up the seemingly endless hills...and also when the wind is blowing at you and not helping you. Supposedly, this was one of the hardest years to ride the MS150 because of the incessant wind that negates all your effort. There was one point where there was a freaakin steep hill and lots of people had gotten off their bikes to walk up the hill. The people walking were going faster than I was when I was trying to pedal through despite the excruciating pain in my thighs and back. So...I decided to get off my bike and walk too. It was so much easier to walk my bike. You can ask monica...she walked her bike soo much. lol.
I just remember lots of gatorade, water, oranges, bananas, TONS of port-a-potties, BIO FREEZE, PLAIN sandwiches for lunch that did not fill us, and music playing at almost every break point. I remember praying for the break points to come.
As I got closer to Austin and to my own campus I was getting more and more excited. Austin has TONS and TONS of hills though and it was not an easy finish. I kept telling myself "PEDAL THROUGH PEDAL THROUGH PEDAL THROUGH!" I rode faster than I had ridden that day when I first saw the UT Tower. I was like "OH THANK GOD!" And when I was on MLK I was like "OH THANK GOD!" And when I passed by Hoovers I was like "OMG I want to stop here and eat!" I had initially tried to keep up with church people that day but was only successful in doing that for about 10 minutes. Then I lost them. I also lost Monica because she was really slow on the second day. When I was almost to the finish line, I saw church people waiting at one point and I got so excited I didn't look and almost bumped into another rider. We waited for John and Monica but they never came so we decided to ride through the finish line with just us.
Riding through that finish line was SOO COOOL! TONS of people were cheering and supposedly the announcer had called out my name. The very first person I saw was Chris Yan smiling and I got SO excited! And then I saw Rosalie and King running in the same direction as my bike and waving and smiling. I love that image in my head. It always makes me smile. And then I heard a guy in a neon shirt yell out "GO SOPHIA!!!" but I couldn't tell who it was. I later found out it was Nick Fung...who had finished with Kevin Fung like HOURS before we did. (They are so hard core!) Then I saw Cindy and Rachelle and Van and Vincent and my mom and my dad. And then Monica and John arrived. And All the church people were there. It was SOO COOOL!
I didn't even care that I had not really ridden 150 hahah. I only started to care later on when I tell the story...because YOU DON"T KNOW how hard 130 miles is already. But it does make me want to ride the MS150 again next year (I will probably regret this)...but with a good ROAD bike...and motivated people....so that I can say I did it without riding the bus. I am so proud of the church people though. They are HARD CORE. They started at another location which was a total of 180 miles! and they did not get off their bikes to walk any of the hills (which me and monica did) OR take the bus. Kudos to them!
This was definitely an interesting and very cool experience. I can't believe me and monica made it out alive! or...barely alive? lol -->
| | |
| Teacup pigs are do damn cute!If you've known me for a long time, you would know that I've always wanted a pet pig and name it MooMoo! A long time ago someone told me about teacup pigs but I never really researched them until now, and now I really really want to get one!
This is the picture on my desktop and whenever I look at it I go (in a really annoying high pitched tone) "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww" *smile*
I just want to pick it up and hold ittt!!
Look at how peaceful and cute that little piggy is?! AND she/he's perfect because there are spots on him/her like a real cow, hence, the name MooMoo!!! It's absolutely PERFECT!
Watch these little piglets! --->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI9gPSymfhY&feature=related
or this cute black one eating cereal and milk!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-5kb2rmcxQ
Ahhhh!! Aren't they adorable?! 
gotta gooo parents are here AGAIN to look at condos! Yea, they're buying me and my sister one!
| | |
| To defend what I said in my last post…
Second semester teaching is a lot different than first semester teaching. I’m working at a lower SES and the first couple of weeks I think I was in culture shock because even though 1st grade is only one up from Kinder, the kids are from a totally different world. The kids ARE more defiant and so much more difficult to handle than the seemingly angelic kids I had last semester but sometimes you have to change your comfort level to fit the kids and sometimes you just have to let some things go so the day will run more smoothly. It was definitely difficult transitioning, but getting to know them more each week and hearing bits and pieces of each kid’s background and family life, I’ve started to really care for them and have fun with them. If you hang around me a lot you’d hear a lot of hilarious stories of my kids. :p I can’t wait to become a teacher but I’m also terrified. How do teachers do it? I still will NOT take back what I said that teaching is hard, but it doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.
| | |
| Waaaaaaah!! :(Whoever thinks teaching is easy should get a million slaps across the face!
| | |
| Pleasures Are MeaninglessEcclesiastes 2:1-11
1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem [a] as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
| | |
|
