Teammates

Wednesday's ride from Chandler to Payson was rough, to say the least. It was another super hot, 90-ish mile day through the desert, but for a little extra fun, we got to climb up to an elevation of about 5000 feet. My body experienced lots of unhappy feelings - nausea, dehydration - and all I really wanted to do was just get in the van. Thank God for teammates.

Teammates push each other:

As soon as I told Brian I wanted to quit, he pulled a piece of paper out of his jersey that read something to the effect of EVERY MILE COUNTS. I kind of thought that that was a nice thing, but kind of cheesy and a little false. I mean, who would really care if I stopped riding right then? In fact, everyone would probably be better off (and by everyone I mean Brian - he wouldn't have to wait for me to putt putt my way up every hill). But he pointed out, among other things, that every mile we ride is an opportunity to experience what our friends in Kenya have to go through every day just to get water. They have to suffer through the long treks, the heat, and the dehydration, but they can't just stop and hop in a van like I can. I wouldn't foolishly overexert myself or anything like that, but it makes good food for thought.

Teammates save lives:

The van overheated, and it could only go like 10 miles an hour or something, so pretty much the last time I saw the van that day was at about mile 40. Fortunately, Criselda and Erin followed us that day in Criselda's mini cooper, so they pulled 'baby falcon' status and found us and brought us desperately needed water and bananas and such for the rest of the ride. Honestly, there is absolutely no way we could've made it that day without them.

Teammates encourage:

The rest of the ride was pretty much torturous. I still felt nauseated despite all the water I was drinking, probably because any salt I ever had in my body was sitting in a crusty little layer all over my skin. I hadn't peed since lunch, and I was starting to cramp a little whenever I lifted my leg on or off my bike. To top it all off, my derailler kept hitting my spokes when I shifted to my lowest gear, so I refrained from using it for the day out of fear that it would ruin my bike. Cody just kept me going, encouraging me to just make it a little farther, telling me I can make it, and saying "we're almost at the top," even when we weren't.

Teammates have your back:

When the van finally caught up to us we'd probably gone about 85 miles. Cody and I were just about to get back on our bikes after taking a short break in the shade. Erin hopped out of the van and gave me a little hug. She told me I was cold and looked like crap. What are friends for? She held on to my bike and looked like she was going to put me in the van, and I kind of started to cry a little - after 85 miles of pain and perseverance, all I wanted to do was finish it off. Cody argued that they were going to pull me 20 miles before, so they might as well just let me finish the rest. That was the first I'd heard about getting pulled, and was really thankful that Cody hadn't told me anything earlier - it just would've been another discouraging obstacle. Erin did a little consulting via texting, and after a little thought, told me that since I had peed at lunch and I was still sweating, I could ride. Woohoo!

As it turns out, we only had about a mile of uphill left, and it was downhill the rest of the way into Payson. We rolled into the church to the welcoming hugs of the most amazing teammates anyone could ever ask for.

I think God really used the ride to get my heart back in the right place. Before Wednesday, I'd been feeling pretty good on the rides - I was definitely worn out at the end of every day, but nothing that I felt my body couldn't handle. I was proud that God had blessed we with the opportunity to train for a solid 10 weeks in San Luis Obispo where there are lots of solid hills to practice on. God finally broke my pride on Wednesday and showed me that there was nothing that I had done or could do that could get me through those rides. All that can bring me through is God and the unbelievable teammates that God has placed in my life.