After my return from Malaysia Angie and I argued constantly. I was fine in Kuala Lumpur, away from my world, my baggage, but when I returned to Yorktown the memories of Seko came crashing in on me. It was summer... a year after we'd been together, going to her concerts, hanging out on the beach, spending every free hour together. Summer reminded me of her. I doubted any future with Angie and didn't know how to tell her without messing up our five year friendship. So I did everything but tell her what I thought and when I finally did we were too far apart. I had so much anger against Seko and the rest of the world I couldn't carry on a conversation without it coming out. It clouded every thought and every decision.
I went to counseling and the counselor soon put me on anti-depressant medication. After that I rarely got angry and lost most of my emotions and feelings. I giggled a lot more. I was a zombie and I liked it.
The hotel behind where Angie lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, was bombed by terrorists on August 8. At the time I heard about it I wasn't sure if it was her hotel...all I knew was, based on the CNN reports, it was the same area of Jakarta. I rushed home and nearly killed my roomate because he wouldn't get off the computer. I was very pissed off at him and stormed into my room and after serveral tries I reached Angie on the phone. She'd been at work that day...she was okay...and seemingly unconcerned. It was a very scary time. I thought I'd lost my only friend.
As was my habit, I increased my riding in July in preparation for the Virginia State Time Trial. I began riding with the Langley Cycling Club on base during lunch hours. I didn't know how well I'd do and on the first ride we did, my left shifter mount snapped off leaving me dead in the water. After looking at the problem in a parking lot for a few minutes, I wrapped the cable around the downtube and chased them in my smallest chainring for 13 miles. I had no front shifting and limited rear shifting and pedaled furiously in a gear designed only for uphills. I held pace about 300 meters back but couldn't gain on them. With the time trial weeks away, I needed a bicycle fast.
