Donna (DDH) what a TERRRIFIC ride!! It was wonderful meeting you and your stepmom and your DH at the Skittles Wild West Waco Ride. And the pictures turned out great! Thank Les (DH) for me, for stopping and taking pictures of us riding along the way. What a great guy he is!!

It was a tough day out there, especially once the temp rose into the 90's, and fighting those strong winds at the same time. It wasn't easy and Donna you did great!! You really did! I really enjoyed your company along the way and being able to meet and ride with a fellow TE sister, well that just topped it off. I can't wait until we can meet up again, hopefully soon.

I have to also send out a HUGE thank you to the volunteers! They were great out there on Saturday. Especially the REI team sag wagon who helped me out at about the 30 mile mark change my flat and get me back on the road. The one awesome thing about this ride, it was sponsored by Skittles and the Skittles plant was the second to last rest stop along the way. Besides all the usual fruit, cookies and drinks everyone was welcome to grab and take as much candy as they wanted. I heard riders were stocking up for Halloween...LOL! OOhhh and I can't forget the Snickers ice cream bars they had for us. Yummy!! The Skittles plant is where I met up with Donna's stepmom and DH again. When they arrived they told me you had finally been picked up. I hated to leave you, but standing at the top of that first hill I could see nothing but more hills lied await ahead of us and I knew for me it's easier to keep my rythem going and conquer them all at once. The word used to describe this race by so many riders was "BRUTAL".....and it was! It wasn't but maybe 3 miles past the Skittles plant, with about 17 miles to go, I had my flat. Stepmom and DH were ahead of me and never realized I had to stop. After I got back on the road, I got my rythem going again and decided to by-pass the last rest stop and just finish the race. Just as I passed the final rest stop I heard my named yelled out and turned to see stepmom and DH getting ready to leave from there. I stopped until they got up to where I was and then the three of us continued on. But as Donna said, her DH got his second wind and was long gone, finishing the race ahead of us. Once we crossed the finish line I headed to my truck, put my bike up and found a port-a-potty. That was when Donna called to see where I was....Perfect timing, LOL!! I then found Donna, stepmom and DH at their truck, we took some pictures and reminisced about the race for a little bit. After they left I went back to the finish line and waited for my DH and a friend of ours who had both chosen to do the 100 mile race. My DH called me when he had reached the Skittles plant and I knew from there they still had 22 miles to go. So I went back to my truck, grabbed my bag and headed for the showers only to find out they had closed them already. WHY??? I still don't understand that one, since most of the 100 milers hadn't even made it in yet. I then went back to my truck and washed down as best I could with baby wipes, ducked down in the back seat and changed clothes. After that fun exprerience I went back to the finish line. I met a girl from Shreveport, LA who had also rode the 50 and was waiting on her DH which was doing the 100miler also. We had a great time talking while we waited. It was another hour or so before for my DH and friend crossed the finish line. We then stayed with Sherry from Shreveport until her DH crossed about 20 minutes later. I think it was about 6 pm when we finally got everything loaded up and headed back to Dallas.

All in all it was a great day! And I have to again say a BIG THANK YOU to Donna (DDH) for making me a part of her wondeful family for the day. I can't express enough how much I loved her and her family. I look forward to many, many more rides in the future with you. Can you say Hotter -n- Hell next August??

Oh by the way, also A BIG THANK YOU to Donna (DDH), jobob, Lisa S.H., Veronica, Bad JuJu, midgetcycler, RoadRaven and Kano for all your advice and support with my knee problem and the cramping (spelled it right this time....LOL!). I took the advice on raising my seat for the knee problem and it worked like a charm! I made it through the race with no pain. What a great feeling that was!!! And this time I made sure to eat and drink more frequently, even when I felt like I couldn't eat a thing I forced myself because I knew I would need it, especially with the temp. being well into the
90's. TE has the best support and I love you all!!!!