A view from the seat of a bicycle: Centuple Training Camp/Trip to XiaoLiuQiu 小琉球 (230k)

Tino got up quarter of 5 to give me a ride to ZhangHua with Mae-mae so I didn't have to ride in the dark. Thanks so much, sweetie! Thanks for letting me go on the 2-day trip with my team on Chinese Father's Day weekend, too!


Our teammates from FengYuan arriving ZhangHua at around 5:45 a.m.

We had more around 10 of us waiting in ZhangHua for the guys from FengYuan. They had to add another 30 kilometers to their total mileage.

My team told me about the trip to XiaoLiuQuiu when we were at CCK Airport for TUAA. I had no doubt that I wanted to go when they asked if I was going. However, I really doubted that I would be able to complete the whole ride of over 200k in the heat.

Different guys started to lead the group at different speeds, fast, at the front of the pack. In order to not get dropped, I had to just hang with the very front of the group. It wasn't easy. I was glad once we got to JiaYi. They called for a stop for JiaYi's specialty- turkey meat with rice, for breakfast. It was just past 9 am at that time. I had my breakfast 5 hours prior to the stop but knowing how they had been riding, I had to pass on the turkey meat with rice breakfast idea. Instead, I went to a nearby 7-11 for some fruit cup, yogurt, a few bites of my leftover bagel from this morning, and a bottle of Coco Cola Zero.

As I predicted, the guys only rode relaxingly for what seemed a short time before they started to go at racing speed again. At one point, I was falling a bit toward the second half of the group. But then Captain Liao told me straight away to go to the front or I would be dropped in no time. I had to listen to the wise of course. Once we got close to TaiNan, I learned that the only other girl had gotten in the team car because she threw up big time on her bike after JiaYi. Poor girl! I was glad my decision of not eating was correct.At first I planned fight all the way to TaiNan.

Once I got to TaiNan, I thought not getting to GaoXiong would be ridiculous. However, I had no idea just how far it is from TaiNan to GaoShong. Everyone kept encouraging me and telling me how I would be the only woman who was going to make it all the way there. It just seemed so unbelievably far every kilometer after TaiNan. Plus I was getting hungry. They told me it was getting close every time I checked for hour and a half. Until finally it was really just another turn before we would arrive at the Orbea shop in GaoXiong for our lunch break. Well, after another slope up the bridge before the turn. I was shaking my head as I struggled to climb up the bridge under the hot sun. It was so hot that I was dry in short 5 minutes after the support crew poured cold water all over me a couple of times along the way.

I waited for 10 minutes before I could eat. I was absolutely exhausted. Mileage at which point was approaching 200k. I washed up and cleaned up a little in our Orbea sponsor shop in GaoXiong. Our trip manager, Mr. Lv walked over to ask if I was going to ride in the team van to DongGang as I had the first priority for being a woman and all. I checked and made sure that it was really exactly 30 kilometers to DongGang before I committed to completing the entire ride on my bike. I mean, how could I not complete knowing another 30k was all there was?!

I could not begin to tell you how thrilled I was when I saw the ferries and port of DongGang. I had done it!! 230 kilometers in the heat at 41 plus degrees centigrade at times. My team had helped me accomplish this impossible mission, of course! Thanks to the support crew for driving almost 300 kilometers to help us all you could. Thanks to YuanMao and someone for pushing me when I absolutely hit the wall before GaoXiong. Thanks to the guys who gave up drafting with the fast guys to stay behind and pull me. There was most definitely no way I could have done it without any of you! THANKS so much. Thanks to my husband for letting me go on the trip during Chinese Father's Day weekend- I simply had to complete the ride knowing you sacrificed not having me around on Father's Day for me to go on this team ride. Thanks sweetie, for your support, as always!

Unfortunately, I had no energy to enjoy our BBQ dinner or the beauty of XiaoLiuQiu after our arrival. I had a big breakfast the following day and a nice tour around the island for the magazine reporter's photo shoots though. And seafood lunch on the island was just amazing. The bus back home from DongGang was delayed for an hour or so but we got to have a wonderful dinner together north of JiaYi because of it. Thanks so very much to Centuple CEO for treating all of us on the team for the trip. It was a perfect opportunity for me to get acquainted with the team while getting a perfect training session.

And now, for the first time after moving to Taizhong almost a moth and a half ago I could say to myself that riding finally could feel the same again.

Thanks to our support crew, as always! There were plenty of drinks, power gels, and what not in three team cars assisting us with whatever we needed the entire way. I simply had to finish the ride knowing how much I owed it to you.

Posing at the Tropic of Cancer. I was beginning to feel a bit hungry.

Posing with Coach Lu. I really appreciated how he never forgot to remind us with all the details we ought to watch out for in order to be a better cyclist.