Let me say upfront that my first thought was to put this post in the Lavender Room, because it is going to be long, self indulgent and it will contain no technical questions. But as it is somewhat bike related and does not mention politics, abortions, religious views, etc., I am thinking it is fair game in here.
I had the damndest ride today. I am getting married in less than 48 hours and today I met the most beautiful woman I have ever seen on a bike, including all of the representatives from the beloved Hottie Thread. And the bitch of it is she dropped me!
A brief personal history: Two years ago I was 28 and 6'3, 175-180 lbs and just entering triathlon. I finished with (for my expectations) a very good time at a 1/2 (5:15ish) and was all set to tackle IMFL in '04. Then I had the opportunity to buy a retail business and I did NO training after that. I did NO swims, did not run a single mile, and only rode my bike maybe a half dozen times, all but one of those rides were in races. I still did IMFL. I don't weigh myself at home, and at the IMFL weigh in I was 210. My girlfriend was watching from behind the tent and when this was announced to me I heard her laughing from behind the flap! (thanks honey) At bodymarking the guy asked me if I wanted to be a Clydesdale. Probably it wasn't the best idea for me to do an IM with ZERO training and 30 lbs overweight, but I took the long view and looked at the preceding year as one long taper. Let me just say that when you enter T2 of an IM, and as you are getting dressed for the run you notice other naked men in the changing room with finisher medals around their necks - you know you are in for a long day. (NOW I recall where I've seen you before Monk!)
This year all of that changes. I have been putting in what for me is Gordo inspired swim sessions...since mid Feb I have stuck with having 1 hour daily swims, often swimming longer. I have changed my diet and I am down to 190-195. I am just getting back on a bike. I have a Soloist that for the past 2 weeks I have been slowly putting base miles on. I am trying to do this right and build smartly. I started two weeks ago riding 20 miles every other day doing laps around this longish bike path close to my house. Now I'm up to 40 miles. Well today, right as I was getting close to finishing up my 40, I see this girl pull a Lemond out of her car. I took note of this because it is always nice to say hi to other roadies...most of the bikes on the path are old people riding Huffy's.
She is riding behind me and as the trail approaches a fork I just hammer away! Ha, I showed her who the alpha male was. Later there is a section of the trail that pulls away from the loop, and it is just a straight 5 mile out run to a turn around point and then 5 back to the trail. I see her again heading out to take that out and back part, so I caught up to her (we had taken different forks earlier) and passed her politely. We exchanged greetings, and then I was fighting a headwind to keep her behind me. We did the 5 miles out, and then on the return we rode side by side and chatted. Turns out she is a fellow triathlete and we shop at the same LBS. I complimented her on her bike, noted that she was expertly fit on it, and she also complimented my Soloist. In my book, any girl that knows to admire a Cervelo is prime dating material. She was extremely nice, had a cute nose and navel ring, a deep tan and maybe the warmest smile I've even seen.
I do want to say at this point (if anyone is still reading!) that I did a 2 hour swim yesterday, and I had NOTHING to eat all day today besides coffee. I had been riding for 2 hours (isn't that how much glycogen your liver can store?) when she and I started pushing bigger gears. I knew she was stronger than I was (she did a marathon in Jan and was in noticably knock out, amazing, jaw dropping shape) and I tried to keep up with her by asking her questions that required long answers. I figured attacking her oxygen intake was my only hope. That didn't work, and she dropped me like a crying baby 4 miles into our return sprint.
What a day. Life is good.
I had the damndest ride today. I am getting married in less than 48 hours and today I met the most beautiful woman I have ever seen on a bike, including all of the representatives from the beloved Hottie Thread. And the bitch of it is she dropped me!
A brief personal history: Two years ago I was 28 and 6'3, 175-180 lbs and just entering triathlon. I finished with (for my expectations) a very good time at a 1/2 (5:15ish) and was all set to tackle IMFL in '04. Then I had the opportunity to buy a retail business and I did NO training after that. I did NO swims, did not run a single mile, and only rode my bike maybe a half dozen times, all but one of those rides were in races. I still did IMFL. I don't weigh myself at home, and at the IMFL weigh in I was 210. My girlfriend was watching from behind the tent and when this was announced to me I heard her laughing from behind the flap! (thanks honey) At bodymarking the guy asked me if I wanted to be a Clydesdale. Probably it wasn't the best idea for me to do an IM with ZERO training and 30 lbs overweight, but I took the long view and looked at the preceding year as one long taper. Let me just say that when you enter T2 of an IM, and as you are getting dressed for the run you notice other naked men in the changing room with finisher medals around their necks - you know you are in for a long day. (NOW I recall where I've seen you before Monk!)
This year all of that changes. I have been putting in what for me is Gordo inspired swim sessions...since mid Feb I have stuck with having 1 hour daily swims, often swimming longer. I have changed my diet and I am down to 190-195. I am just getting back on a bike. I have a Soloist that for the past 2 weeks I have been slowly putting base miles on. I am trying to do this right and build smartly. I started two weeks ago riding 20 miles every other day doing laps around this longish bike path close to my house. Now I'm up to 40 miles. Well today, right as I was getting close to finishing up my 40, I see this girl pull a Lemond out of her car. I took note of this because it is always nice to say hi to other roadies...most of the bikes on the path are old people riding Huffy's.
She is riding behind me and as the trail approaches a fork I just hammer away! Ha, I showed her who the alpha male was. Later there is a section of the trail that pulls away from the loop, and it is just a straight 5 mile out run to a turn around point and then 5 back to the trail. I see her again heading out to take that out and back part, so I caught up to her (we had taken different forks earlier) and passed her politely. We exchanged greetings, and then I was fighting a headwind to keep her behind me. We did the 5 miles out, and then on the return we rode side by side and chatted. Turns out she is a fellow triathlete and we shop at the same LBS. I complimented her on her bike, noted that she was expertly fit on it, and she also complimented my Soloist. In my book, any girl that knows to admire a Cervelo is prime dating material. She was extremely nice, had a cute nose and navel ring, a deep tan and maybe the warmest smile I've even seen.
I do want to say at this point (if anyone is still reading!) that I did a 2 hour swim yesterday, and I had NOTHING to eat all day today besides coffee. I had been riding for 2 hours (isn't that how much glycogen your liver can store?) when she and I started pushing bigger gears. I knew she was stronger than I was (she did a marathon in Jan and was in noticably knock out, amazing, jaw dropping shape) and I tried to keep up with her by asking her questions that required long answers. I figured attacking her oxygen intake was my only hope. That didn't work, and she dropped me like a crying baby 4 miles into our return sprint.
What a day. Life is good.
Last edited by:
stl_triness: Apr 21, 05 15:04