I am not Lance Armstrong

My bike resting from biking all morning.


Taking a break in Falelima? That doesn't look right...but maybe...



The views from the west side of Savai'i are amazing!



I am not Lance Armstrong
I’m exhausted, but still at the same time full of energy, and disappointed that I planned my trip the way I did. I feel like I set out to conquer a goal, and now delayed it for another week (or more). But it was probably smart to not get my body too hurt after all, I am no Lance Armstrong.
For New Years, I decided to bike to Falealupo Tai to witness the last sunset, and even though I only biked a little more than half way back (due to weather), I think I biked about 60 km (37 miles) for those two days. It was a lot, especially when I was feeling sick, so I decided to give my body an extra day to recover before setting out on my bike again.
Sunday and Monday I spent in my village, testing my nerves. Would I be able actually make it to Salelologa in a few days, by myself. My family didn’t help. My brother asked why I wasn’t biking with anyone else, and I should only go if someone else was prepared to go with me. He told me I was going to fall off and not make it (memories of my last attempt 5 months ago). My dad said similar things, while my sisters were as encouraging as they could be, towards a sister that might be doing something stupid. I only had about $60 US to my name, as the rest of my money was in the bank, and I was not positive if that would stretch as far as I needed it to.
Samoa has been about testing myself. I have been doing things that I never thought possibly in the past, becoming a different person. I used to think of myself as an adventurous person, up for anything, but I feel like I have been able to take it to a different level while living here. I never was a runner, but I ran around an island (okay well I had a team to help with it, but still). I never used my bike for anything more than transportation around the town I lived in, but here I found myself biking long distances to visit my friends. I never thought I could vacation on my own, especially in a foreign country, and not only have I done that, but I have made friends along the way, which always gave me a place to stay. I feel like I am becoming a stronger, amazing person. (Not to sound conceited…)
But I still have continue to test myself, and biking around both main islands of Samoa would be the test of it all. I would start with my island, Savai’i, and since it is the bigger island, I’d be okay with doing it in 3-4 days. I was to leave on Tuesday, and told my family I would be back probably on Friday. (I was going to cheat a little by only riding it ¾ of the way, so my bike would be close to the wharf, and easy to take to Upolu to continue biking around Samoa.)