VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm usually the last person to wish that, but I'm feeling good today. In fact, this has been the best Valentine's Day :) I woke up early in order to eat breakfast and get a sandwich for take-away. Sam, Blair, Noam, Madeleine and I were about to go on a 45k uphill mountain biking adventure. It was quite the experience. The fog had not let up at all. It was still cold outside so we layered up. The bike ride was intense. We were to go up a mountain then down the other side. Before leaving I felt really sick. I think it was because I had just taken my malaria pill, but I felt nauseas. When we began going straight uphill, it kicked in even more. The cold moist air made my chest feel tight. I had to stop for a moment, but I knew I could finish the ride. Madeleine had stopped around the corner, and she was ready to turn around. I convinced her to finish the uphill part; if she still wanted to turn around after the first stretch I wouldn't ask any questions, and we would turn around. Thankfully, she did not want to. A bit into it she felt like she was having an asthma attack and again was uncomfortable. We took a few short minutes and continued biking. We all had faith that she could do it. I'm so glad we didn't turn around because it was awesome. It was intense but good. We continued to ride straight up the mountain. At times it was scary. The fog was so dense you could not see over the cliff. Also, the cars were zooming around the corners with no reguard to anyone else around. We stopped two times for tea and also saw a waterfall. The views were supposed to be amazing, but we could not see anything. It was unfortunate yet our group made it so much fun. My thighs were blazing.
After a few hours we reached the top! Our next task was to go downhill to the other side of the mountain. A sigh of relief might have been appropriate, but downhill was a nightmare. We later described it as miserable fun. It was already cold and wet outside, but soon it began to rain. I was riding downhill with a mixture of snot, rain and tears splashing across my face. The roads were so slippery and most of the path was gravel. The visibility at times was less than 25 feet. This made it nearly impossible to see the upcoming curves let alone traffic. The cars are not required to turn their headlights on, and they drive in the middle of the road. It was scary. I was third in line and at times could not see the first rider. Our hands became numb which made it nearly impossible to grip the brakes. We asked our guide how much longer we had and he said, "One hour." I would rather bike uphill again! I did find some false relief when I thought he said we had 15 more minutes. Unfortunatley, I was quickly informed we still had 15 more kilometers. Oh well. We made the best of it! It was quite fun and miserable at the same time.
At last there was a clearingcould finally see the mountain range and rice fields. I was overcomed with joy. This ride was truly worth it even if we could only enjoy the scenery the last couple of kilometers. I'm enjoying the downhill then all of a sudden I hear my tire rubbing and perhaps going flat. Something gets caught, and my bike spins around. Thankfully I am able to keep my balance and bring it to a stop without falling. The first aid kid that was in my water holder had slipped out and rubbed against my tire then came crashing to the ground. We continued riding down the gravel. There were about 15 minutes left (finally) when I side swiped. My tire got caught, and I knew I was going down. I didn't get hurt because I was able to react fast enough to break my fall. The force of the bike still took me down, but it just filled me with mud. No big deal. I was already extremely dirty! Seconds later Sam did the same thing. She scrapped herself hard and was ready to go back. I distinctly remember her saying , "I don't want to die doing this!" A few deep breaths until we continued forward. We finally reached our destination. The five of us were frozen to the bone but giggling in excitement. That was awesome! We did some jumping jacks, ate some hot soup and then got driven back to our hotel the same route we had just biked. Imagine that. We biked this path just to have lunch. I'm only teasing because it was fantastic.
Since it was Valentine's Day, Hillary made reservations for us at a restaurant across the street. The whole group had dinner together near the fire. We had some wine and just relaxed. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the day's activities. It was a splendid dinner though. I loved the company. Four of us went to get some dessert afterwards. We also bought eight more to take back to the hotel for Blair's 21st birthday! The desserts were rich and decadent. I enjoyed every bite as I have been lately. This was the perfect Valentine's Day :) It was spent the way it should have been: in the company of good friends filled with laughter and love.