Biking insults

I'll be honest... the prospect of biking on the road with cars, trucks, semis, etc scares the bejeezus out of me.  I've heard too many horror stories about people who have been hit, run off the road, pelted with things, and generally not accepted on the road to feel 100% comfortable at any time. 

In Ohio, there was at least a little bit of comfort... we could bike for miles and miles without seeing anyone.  Or anything.  Honestly, it was kind of boring.  But, that just meant that the ratio of total asshats to courteous people was really high.  Always good for the nerves.  We had people scream things, usually inaudible things that I'm sure were total compliments on the rate of speed I was traveling or the cute biking tank I was sporting.  We've been spit on (that one ended well... with Tom catching up to the said asshats and pounding on their window, probably causing the 17 year old boys inside to crap themselves).  We had one guy stop his car (I actually believe that the beater broke down right after passing nearly running us off the road) and he then got in a screaming match with the hubs about how he pays taxes and that we shouldn't be on the road.  Hum... last time I checked, the IRS was doing a damn fine job of taking most of the money that I earned as well mister.

So when we were told that Georgia ranks 45th out of 50 in bike fatalities, I was thrilled (that means that there are only five other states worse than us... Tom assumed Missouri after riding across it in RAAM twice... he was wrong - they are actually Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida in case you were curious).  But I have been pleasantly surprised at how much room people give us.  Maybe it's just where we are biking. Or the fact that Tom and I know the rules of the road, stay to the right at all times, signal when we are turning and ride single file (no, that last one has nothing to do with Tom's biking ability versus mine... I promise we do it for safety reason. Really.)

So I had to laugh when we were out on Saturday.  Tom and I had planned out a 55 mile route around Lake Lanier.  A beautiful Saturday by the lake and we didn't know the roads.  That could be scary.  We were only on one or two sections that were 55mph which always scare me. But people gave us plenty of room.  I got whistled at once... and honked at once which totally doesn't bother me.  But the absolute best thing happened two miles from our house.  We were just about to make a turn onto a back road that leads to our neighborhood and a pick up drives by.  In a very thought out, clear as day voice we hear the best comment ever from a driver.

"Nice wiener".

I have never laughed so hard in my life.  The kid obviously thought that one out well because he timed it perfectly, even leaning his head out the window so that the sounds could carry across the 4 lanes of traffic, all while taking into account the speed he was going and the wind.

If you are going to get yelled at on a bike, I'll take "nice wiener" over "f*ck you" or "get off the effing road".

I tell ya... I'm smitten by the southern hospitality here!

Swimming in jello

I swear every workout I do in Georgia is harder.  The running kills me because of the undulations.  The biking, besides being hilly, is just difficult to execute (I'm used to biking out of my house, no questions asked).  And today, I find the aquatic center.

I swear I was swimming in jello.

Or maybe uphill... I wouldn't put it past these southerners to build pools with hills.

Um, this lady has a long way to go to getting back into any sort of swim shape.  I've never been fast, but wow, this was pathetically slow.  And tiring.  And I wanted to quit.  Which so isn't like me.  I enjoy swimming, albeit at my manatee pace.

At least the pools here are a normal length - M/W/F 25 yards, T/TH 25 meters.  My old pool was 19 meters - swim swim turn, swim swim turn.  It got old really quick.

I lost a lot of fitness when we moved... and I'm paying for it now. Good thing I don't have too many races this year. :)

Right

Right... so about that "I'm back" declaration at the end of my last blog - Um... I'll be back.  In time.  I feel like I don't have much to say right now.  Shocking right?  The house is keeping me busy (and I looooove it), work is kicking my butt (which is paying for the house... yay) and I haven't been doing much training so I have nothing to report there.  Wow, what an exciting life! :)

But I'm loving life right now.  Things are good.  I'm happy.  This weekend my twin is coming to visit and I'm super excited.  We're doing the Dirty Girl Atlanta (with Karen and Alec which is super fun) and I can't wait.  I think it's going to be a great way to just smile, laugh and have some girl time.  Saturday night we're heading to my teammate Jill's for dinner with she and Kacie and I can't wait to catch up with them, talk about Boston and the double Ironman (because those girls are crazy awesome) and just relax.  I heard Margaritas are on tap... perfect night!

In two weeks my parents are coming down.  I'm so excited to show there where we live and what we've done with the place.  I think it'll help my mom a little too, knowing how great it is here.  I know she misses me... and I miss her terribly.  Heck, I think they will love it enough to move here soon.  A girl can dream, can't she?

And then my sister just booked a 5.5 day trip in July down here.  She and I rarely get time together and it'll be great knowing that we have nearly six days to just do whatever we want together!  Plus, she's been totally amazing on Weight Watchers and I honestly can't wait to see her walk off the plane because I'm fairly certain I'm not going to recognize her.  She's down nearly 30 pounds already!  A.freaking.MAZING!

So I have a lot to look forward to in the next few months.  I'll take tons of pictures this coming weekend.  And hopefully I get the writing bug again.  I miss you guys!!!