Rochelle’s Reflections: Day Three

I voluntarily sagged Day 3. It hurt just to walk around or crawl in and out of the tent. The massage may have helped, but having pushed 100+ miles on a bad knee was too much for my body. I really wanted to ride into DC, and the only way I was [maybe] going to be able to do it was to stay off my leg at least another day.



It rained hard that morning. Andy and Alex (our tent neighbors) had already taken down their tent when it started pouring, so they were laughing at the three of us still huddled inside our tent. We were not about to get out.



The other memorable thing about that morning was the guy in black leather chaps who blasted Cher’s “Strong Enough” as everyone was debating whether or not to brave the rain in order to make it out of camp before camp closed.



The sag bus was not leaving for a while, so I volunteered to help pick up trash at camp. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I completely filled a large outdoor trash bag, and I saw at least another 20 people out on the field doing the same thing. I could not believe how much trash there was… everything from candy wrappers to old socks.



The bus ride was again miserably cold. Everyone was wrapped in hypothermia blankets. We stopped at each pit to pick up new saggers. The first couple times I got out to stretch my legs and thaw, but every time people kept asking me how my ride had been. I got so depressed I stopped getting off the bus.



When we got to lunch, they told us that there were so many riders at the pit stop that the sagged riders had to get our lunches and get back on the bus. Back to feeling like a leper. We proceeded to camp, but they told us that once we got to camp, we would not be able to get off the buses because the camp did not officially open until 2:00. They gave us the option to sit on the buses at camp or stop at a strip mall. We decided to go shopping. I went into the Burger King and used a “real bathroom” with running water – it was great! Then I went to CVS and picked up a pair of sunglasses for Sarah. She broke hers on the first day, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to buy new ones.



The camp that night was the best ever. Everyone was in high spirits because camp was dry. We were able to lay out our clothes and sleeping bags and get stuff dry finally. I put up Carter’s and my tents and grabbed all of our gear. After Carter and Sarah got into camp and we had all showered, we went up to cheer the riders coming into camp. I saw a man push a woman up the last hill. He was on foot and she was on a WalMart bike. Apparently, WalMart bikes are really heavy. It was exciting to see the smiles on everyone’s faces when we clapped and cheered for them. Finally some of those warm and fuzzy feelings we were supposed to get from the Ride.



That night I went to the med tent and talked to some of the docs about my knee. I told them I really wanted to be able to ride into DC – “What will it take to get me there?” I asked them if there was anything I could combine with my medication (Piroxicam) to help alleviate the pain. They deliberated for a while about what Piroxicam even was. Finally they determined that it was a mild anti-inflammatory. I would have been better off on ibuprofen. After learning the whole history of the injury, they understood that I was dealing with serious pain – finally, somebody believes me!! They decided to switch me to Vioxx for Day 4.



We went to bed fairly early that last night. I didn’t watch the talent show, and I should have met other people, but I was still too depressed to be outgoing.



I resolved that I was going to ride some back-to-back centuries once my knee healed. I still have to prove to myself that I can do it.



On to Day Four