i'm a wreck

Well, let me just say that asphalt isn't really as comfy as it may look. I got an up-close and way too personal experience with the terrain yesterday.

Yesterday was beautiful day, wasn't it? The temperature was just right and there was not even that much humidity....which is unlikely weather for Shelby, NC, so Josh and I decided to take advantage of it. I hadn't been on my bike in a while (ever since I started with the trainer at the gym) so I was excited to see what I could do with my new muscles, but I was also still a little nervous about my rusty bike-handling skills.

The ride was awesome. We did a route I like to call "The Goat Loop" because we get to see a bunch of crazy pygmy goats and its a loop (creative name, I know). I was doing ok, not nearly as well as Josh, and was having a lot of fun. I was narrating our ride as if I was Phil or Paul, complete with funny anecdotes and sarcasm. It felt great to be having such a good time with Josh, doing something that he loves and something I've come to enjoy too.

We were racing up the last street before our neighborhood. Its a great one mile stretch, with a few rolling hills, that you can really push your muscles on. We weren't going too fast towards the end of the road (stop-sign was coming up), maybe between 18-22mph. We saw Lou, a friend of ours, approaching on his road bike. We both shouted a friendly 'hello!' and kept on riding...only I though we kept on riding. Josh pulled ahead and off to the left to complete a U-turn to follow after Lou. I was looking over my left shoulder at Lou (because I'm always so nosey) and didn't see Josh turn. And then it happened. I ran smack into the side of Josh's rear wheel. At this point I know that I had my breaks on a little, because I always do that when I look over my shoulder (to reduce speed since I'm not looking at what's in front of me any longer). So I guess my speed was between 15-20mph. It all happened so quick that I just remember being on the asphalt thinking, "How did I get here? Wow, my skin is on fire. Where's my bike?"

And then Josh was in my face asking me what happened and assessing my injuries. This is about the point where I started to get upset and embarrased. I've just wrecked my bike and have a crowd gathering around. I tell them that I don't need an ambulance, I just need them to help me to the side of the road (I had ended up just right across the yellow-line). We're about one mile from our house and about 1.5 miles from the hospital. Lou stays with me while Josh races back to the house to get the car to pick me up. I'm really grateful that Lou was there, he fended off the spectators and answered all the idiotic questions from the natives.

We loaded up the bikes and headed to the ER. Somewhere during the hour-long wait in the ER, I realize that I'm still wearing my full cycling outfit: jersey, shorts, gloves and cleats. Josh managed to grab a change of clothes for me: a texas t-shirt and black leggings. I'm not sure which outfit was worse. I decided to stick with the cycling outfit, but mostly because I'm too sore to change at that point.

Three and a half hours later, my x-rays and CT scan have come back clear. Its at this point that I want to give a serious shout-out to Dr. Mike Wehmueller. Mike's a friend of ours that we met at church. He's a super nice guy who also happens to be an amazing radiologist and it made me feel sooooooooo much better to know that he was on-call that night and was the one reading my scans. He also provided some much needed laughter during a tense situation. So there you have it, if you're in the Shelby area and need a radiologist, this is the man to go to. (He was also way better than the doctor who was actually taking care of me in the ER, but that's a story that Josh isn't going to let me put on here.)

Today I'm feeling tired, sore and have a headache. I've got some bruising and road-rash on my elbows and my butt and a lump on my head. But don't worry, the damage to the bikes was minimal. Josh's wheel suffered, but I think that's only fair, right?

photo on the left: way the shifter is supposed to look,
photo on the right: my jacked up skifter

my broken helmet. no wonder my head hurts!
praise the lord that the CT scans came out clear. thanks for the prayers last night :)

PS
Mom: We knew the injuries weren't life-threatening, otherwise we would've called you right away---promise :)
Dad: I didn't even break a bone! Aren't you proud?
Josh: The accident wasn't your fault. Promise. I blaim stuff on you all the time that we both know isn't your fault. So trust me, when I do actually admit that something isn't your fault you should take it and run.
Guy at scene of the addicent who thinks he's in the medical profession: You aren't. You are in fact just a guy that was smoking on his front porch who saw me fall off my bike. Just because you've watched 'ER' or 'MASH' doesn't make you an EMT.

a little older every day

I've felt older this year. I mean, I'm aware that I am actually older this year....but I just feel older. You know what I mean? I'm having a harder time connecting with youth culture, pop media, teenage impulsivity....it just all seems so immature. Which, just thinking the word 'immature' makes me feel decades past my prime.

And then there was the grey hair that I spotted on the way to work. There I was, minding my own business, when a nasty little ray of sunshine burst through my sun-roof to perfectly expose a giant gray hair on top of my head. I nearly threw up, had a heart-attack and wrecked my car all at the same time. And then the panic set in. Is this really what aging feels like? Are my best years behind me? Am I really in my 'late' 20s? Do I need a more age-appropriate haircut?!?!

arg. the villain.

fresh fruit

Ok, I think this craze at our house is now bordering on full-fledged obsession. Last Wednesday, at the farmer's market, I bought one pint of blueberries, one quart of blackberries and one quart of peaches. (I didn't buy any strawberries because I already had two quarts at home.)

Its now Monday and I had to go buy some more fruit. I can't believe that we went through that much fruit that quickly. But when I think about how its been an accompaniment to nearly every meal and on top of every bowl of ice cream, it does kind of all make sense.

And speaking of "cents", do I dare even mention how pricey some of this fruit can be?!?! Even buying the fruit on sale can seriously break our grocery budget. So you want to know what I did today? I started out at Walmart (don't hate) to look at produce and was really disappointed at the selction. I ended up only buing a pint of blueberries for $2, which was 1/2 off the Harris Teeter price. Then I went to ALDI (crazy german grocery chain) and bought three quarts of strawberries for $1.69/quart, which are normally $6 at Harris Teeter (maybe $3 when they're on sale). Then I went over to Harris Teeter to look at blackberries, but was so scared off by the price that I ended up buying 'local' peaches from a stand in the parking lot ($10 for the container, and the sweet girl threw a couple in on top!)

I'm not sure how many hours this fruit will sustain us for, but I'm glad that we got it for a discount.....even if I did have to drive all over the county to get it.

childhood vacations

Ah, the days of sweet childhood vacations. Sometimes there's a smell, sight or old photo that brings those sweet memories of the good 'ole days back into focus.

Last night, Josh and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite pizza places. (Yay for Barley's!) When we pulled into our parking spot I giggled with delight.....parked right next to us was a car with this on top:

I can see in coming into focus right now....we're taking the red suburban to the beach. I'm yelling at my little sister to aim the air-conditioning vents in the back up a little more because its steamy in the car....we're watching a movie on this tiny TV that my dad has wired up to the cigarette lighter...i'm trying to sleep on the floorboard on the car...we've already asked 'are we there yet' at least 34875 times on the 3.5 hour trip...my older sister keeps looking at me and i'm trying to convince my parents that she's violating my personal space... Ahh, sweet childhood memories from the road.

farmers' maket delights

I just got back from the farmer's market in our little "up-town." (I guess when you have a small town you call the area "up-town" but when you have a city you call it "down-town"? what's up with that?)

I intended to just purchase some fresh blackberries. But then all these other things suddenly piled into my tote:

peaches, blueberries, blackberries, corn, flowers and sourdough bread
(the bread was a total guilt-induced purchase. i made eye contact and conversation with the bread lady and felt like i had to buy it. so its up for grabs--let me know if you want it!)

I went home to put up my farmers' market goodies. Raise your hand if you love fresh, local produce!

buzz kill

I went to the beach this weekend....ahhh, three bliss-filled days at the coast. But all that relaxation can crashing down during the ridiculous drive home yesterday. This was my speed during a 70 mph zone:

Seriously???

the tour

I'll be on vacation from July 4-July 26.

Ok, that's not true. But I wish I was. I actually wish I was on vacation in France.....watching le tour. But instead I'll be here in Shelby (which is almost as good, right?) where I've turned our bonus room into Tour de France central; complete with cowbells to cheer on our favorites and nutrients to make it through the 3-4 hours a day of live coverage.

Some of you out there might be asking "Why the heck is this whole 'Tour de France' thing so big?" That's exactly where I was, seven years ago, before Josh introduced me to the cycling world---bless his little heart. And while I can't answer for everyone, I can say that for me the Tour this year is a combination of things: world-class athletes pushing their bodies to the limit, unbelievably beautiful terrain, watching adults work as a team, hoping for a victory for 'the good guys' of cycling (the openly anti-doping teams), taking a break from the chaos of what's happening around the world and of course the unbeatable combination of Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Bob Roll (pictured right).

So who am I cheering for this Tour? I thought you'd never ask:

Team:

I'm only rooting for one team this year: Garmin-Slipstream

Why only one team? Because I can't have my alliances spread all over the place, geez.

Why this team? For so many reasons! (A) they are dedicated to riding clean and are leading the way in the most progressive anti-doping system in professional sports (B) they have snazzy outfits, check out that argyle! (C) they used to be sponsored by Chipotle, yummmmm (D) we've been following them for several years at the USA pro tour in Greenville, SC (see the picture on the right)

This year's Tour roster stars: Julian Dean, Tyler Farrar, Ryder Hesjedal, Martijn Maaskant, David Millar, Danny Pate, Christian Vande Velde, Bradley Wiggins and David Zabriskie

Look how much better Christian is doing since his crash!!

Individuals:

Cadel Evans (from Australia, on team Silence-Lotto)

He's won second place twice, both times by less than one minute.

I think this could be his year, as long as he can handle the pressure of leading his team.

Andy Schleck (from Luxembourg, on team Saxo Bank)
He's great at time-trials and he can climb like a maniac....and he's so darn cute!







Denis Menchov (from Russia, on team Rabobank)
This guy is a quiet, underrated rider that just might surprise us all this year...he's a really steady rider, not all that spectacular at time-trials or climbs, who has a lot of fight in him--which is really what you need to finish this thing!




Possible drama aka "word from the gossip mill":
Team Astana: There's three top riders on the same team: Alberto Contador , Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong. While Astana is one of the strongest over-all teams on the Tour, there's no clear leader for this team...and historically, the Tour is always won by a team that can throw 100% of its energy into one single rider. So stock-piling such great talent on one team might actually hurt Astana this year---who knew?

It looks all friendly, but I think there's a lot of tension on the team.