Story time: A beautiful SoCal Saturday morning and I'm off to the other side of town for a co-team brick practice (bike-run) led by the East Side TNT team at Griffith Park. Practice doesn't start until 9am, so I've gotten an extra hour of sleep, my tires are inflated, my bag packed and I'm feeling good. Flash forward to 10 minutes into the ride... a ride where, let me frankly state, the dumb-@$$ East Side team, who is supposed to be leading us has instead printed us off paper maps and told us "so you turn here and here and here and here, good luck. see ya." -- 'cause it's easier to read a map while riding your bike and dodging cars in a brand new area, right? WTF?!? So here I go over one massive hill and on the downward, until I realize that my mentors have screeched to a halt in front of me at a fork in the road to read their maps. Then here goes me, crashing into the back of someone's wheel well, flying/falling over a 2 foot curb (still clipped in to my pedals/attached to my bike), going ass over handle bars, and skidding 4-6 ft down the other side of a dirt/tree filled hill all in front of about 15 of my team members.
So of course, after the shock fades, I un-clip myself, stand up and present hand up, Olympic gymnast style and start laughing at myself - cause if I'm laughing first, then they can't be laughing at me, right? And if this isn't bad enough, I get back onto my bike and start up a hill (which I can't make), so have to un-clip AGAIN and walk up the rest of the way. All this to go 15 more minutes until I hear a loud *pop* - busted tire - and in the process of oil/grease-covered changing that 1st tire blow another tire completely up with too much Co2. I finally make it past the finish line, only to hear my coach say "ok, great, now put your shoes on and you're gonna run for 20 minutes".... I give him the evil look, say F that, throw my crap in the car and drive home. (Admittedly not the best decision at the time, but I was SO OUT with that day...)
So a few days later, I'm still bruised and so is my ego, but I'm still in this thing. I'm not ready to make nice you stupid triathlon, I'm not ready to back down... I'm mad as hell, and you don't wanna see me when I'm mad...
Today's Jam: "Not Ready to Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks (Not Ready to Make Nice, 2006)
Tri this Emotion: It turned my whole world around, and I kindda liked it
Special Props Go Out To: The great and powerful Anonymous, Mama Dixie Reese, The Brodnax Beauties Drew & Julie & Simply WOnderful Sandy persons for their incredible donations to the cause.
The Be-All End-All Attitude: Busted tires? No shin skin left? Bruises the size of South Dakota? Award-winning falls? Nope, nothing can stop me now... "I'm through with doubt, there's nothing left for me to figure out. I've paid a price and I'll keep paying..."
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