Monday, August 06, 2007

Om

Om . . .
Om . . .
Om . . .


Yeah, right.
No worries, Nat's no Buddha. I got no Dharma. I know no Tao. Heck, I barely have a handle on when, where and how. Forget about enlightenment, truth and the way.
But today I clipped in and became one with my bike. So I'm at least making it down the path a little better. And rather than "om" my mantra went more like this .... wheeeeee!!!!!

It was fun. It was great. I felt free and fast.
Sigh.
But I wasn't: an hour 24 for 25 miles at the Greenway. Flat, but a bit curvy and holy crap it was hot as Hades--98 hot humid degrees. Bless me the shade. Bless me.

Wes bailed on me. The bastard. He ended up having to work so no Silver Comet Ride for me. Boo. Maybe next week.

Ryan also failed to bring his promised tools home. So I went to Lala's and raided Pop's tool museum and set to work on my bike renovations myself.
And before I completely lost my patience (see, no Om) I successfully moved the bike seat. All.By.My.Self.

On my way to the Greenway I stopped by Roswell Bikes and the guys there happily helped me make my bike adjustments. Get this. They even put air in my tires--apparently you are suppose to do this regularly. Who knew? Sure has heck not me since my tires have been unpumped all summer. I have never put air in them. I thought you just waited til they went flat.

The cute friendly bike boys also oiled my gears--God, that sounds so sexy--and adjusted my brakes, moved my handle bars... cue music

They put the pedals on for me too and even gave me a little lesson on how to use new pedals in the parking lot. That was not so sexy. I felt like how I felt the day Pop took the training wheels off my bike. I was glad I did not crash into a car today like I did when I was 5. At least with age my coordination has improved slightly.

After all those adjustments Lance is a completely different bike now. Wait, wheeeee!!!!!!!!!

So it was good ride and I can't wait to test my spiffy new pedals out on the road and see what Lance and I can do to some hills. Probably about what we were doing before: getting our arse kicked.

Yesterday Ryan and I had an adult day at the lake. The kids were off visiting Callaway Gardens with Bubbles and Poppy. Ryan was kind and let me get my swim in before we sat in the hot sun and drank too much beer and well, the rest is none of your business.

Here is me doing my virgin open water swim. I swam for about 10 minutes. It wasn't spectacular-- just okay. The lake is so dirty. Note to the ladies: white bikini not a good idea for lake swimming.

It was really shallow here and I would have preferred it been very deep. I completely freaked after I finished and my foot hit spongy creepy lake bottom. So gross. I am cringing just thinking about that. I don't know how I am going to deal with that in the tri but I guess I will find a way.

And here is me practicing my very rusty butterfly. Oh God I suck. I can't believe that use to be effortless.

What else? Counting down to tri:
Training? Check. Practice open water swim? Check. Outfit? Check. Fix bike? Check.

Tell me, why is it that now I am more freaked out about all this than I was when I started training. I'll tell you. Ignorance is bliss. Knowledge is the death.

Deep cleansing breath.
I can do this. Om, Om, Om . . . .
Tell me that when I cross the finish line on Sunday I will be back to saying wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 comments:

  1. Ummmm. Nat? You have to pump up your tires everytime you ride your bike :-) Yes, I learned that the hard way too! I was riding my 100 psi tires on 35 and I thought that was good. It wasn't! We bought Dee Dee's bike at Roswell Bikes. Those guys rock!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those new pedals sound really cool! : ) There is a group ride (followed by a run) from the Roswell Rec on Thurs at 6:00pm. I think it's a 20 mile ride, plus 5K run. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wes--That is what they told me at the bike shop. I coud tell they were having a good time laughing at me. And as I've said before, I am fairly comfortable being that person--you know, the one people laugh at it. I seriously didn't know you had to pump up your tires until they went flat. Now? I know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Steph-- I am thinking that sounds good. Let me see what I can arrange for childcare that afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Nat- You're just going to love those pedals once you try them out on the hills- Now you can think 'circles' when you are pedaling, instead of just pushing down, and it's amazimg how much easier those hills seem!
    GOOD LUCK at the tri, I can't wait to hear about it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm very jealous of your adults only day! Sounds fabulous! I'm can't believe race day is almost here. I'm sure the guys at the bike shop were more than happy to help you out!

    ReplyDelete