Back, and a great, big, enormous thank you!

Hi all,

I’m back from my epic journey to LA, and am busily working on my AIDS Lifecycle 5 blog and photo section. It was FANTABULOUS! I rode every day in a different outfit, got lots of compliments on my clothes, and had a fantastic time.

I owe someone a great, big, enormous thank you, and I don’t know who it is. On Day 6, going into Ventura, I was having back pain and saddle-soreness and generally having a hard time. We rode on 101 that day, on the shoulder, and as I was riding along I *thought* I saw “GO TIEN!” in chalk, in the middle of the shoulder. I was zipping by at about 17 mph, though, so I wasn’t sure if I’d seen it or it was just a hallucination.

Then I thought I saw “BIKE ON TRAVELING TIGRESS”, and I was *sure* I was hallucinating. A bit later I saw “GO AIDS RIDERS!” and I figured they were just general messages of support.

And then I saw, squarely in the middle of the shoulder, “GO TIEN!” Well, it just totally made my day. Someone was cheering me, personally, on! I stopped feeling the back and butt pain and started following those little signs like bread crumbs of encouragement. It got me to lunch and back out on the road again with renewed enthusiasm.

So, whoever took the time to go out and do that, THANK YOU!!! You TOTALLY made my day. It was one of the high points of my entire ride.

Tien