Like Riding a Bike

So I've signed up for a sprint triathlon.

This we know. I'm a crazy lady. Because I don't swim and I haven't ridden a bike in, like, 7 years.

I tell myself, "I'll learn to swim!" "How hard can riding 11 miles be?"

I ride like a maniac on the stike for months. I get very good at going no where. I swim in the pool. Sadly, I don't get any better at swimming.


Did I mention that I don't even own a bike? What cotton headed ninny muggins signs up for a tri and doesn't even have a bike? This one. My sweet gal Lucy offered the loan of her spiffy red road bike. I gratefully (and a little desperately) accept. We picked it up last night and made plans with Bahama Mama to ride this morning before it got hot. (yeah, right) Don't let that smile fool you. I'm downright terrified in this picture. While the skill of bike riding might have come back to me quite quickly, you know like pedaling, the confidence I once had as a child, did not. The ground seemed very far away and possessing the ability to come swiftly to me.
I'm afraid of falling. My feet don't touch the ground. I see this as a problem. I'm afraid to go fast because that might require stopping. Bahama Mam is not afraid. Look at her, she looks like a professional. And she's fast too.
She is going to complete the bike portion before I am even out of transition, of this I am certain.
After 11 white knuckled miles* we returned to her house. And headed out for a quick 2 mile run. Just like the race next weekend!
I've done brick workouts before. I've practised this transition from stike to treadmill.
It is not the same.
I felt like I was running up a down escalator. A lot of effort was being made, yet I didn't seem to be going anywhere. Why won't my legs work? I thought that wonky feeling was supposed to go away?
It did not.
Now I'm worried I'm going to fall off my borrowed bike AND that I'm going to fall on my imaginary escalator.
To borrow a phrase from Kelly, this was a horrible idea.
Mama's dog Sparky came with us and you can see by the look on his precious little pooch face how hot it was. We are supposed to hit double digits for the first time today. They say it will feel like 108. (42.2 C) At what point to my bike tires begin to melt into the road?After my humiliating morning of terror...I headed to the local bike shop to have my bike inspected before the tri. This is a requirement and thankfully, a free service. It passed! Good thing they didn't inspect me; there is no doubt that I would have received a giant red FAIL on my forehead. While I was waiting I spotted this sweet ride. Do you think it comes in a tri bike?

Speaking of sweet pink rides...check this out!

It's been a good day and it ain't over. I got a new Runner's World that I am SAVING for my trip to Orlando coming up. It's gonna be hard not to read - I've already peeked at the feature on Lolo. We all know how much I adore her. We headed over to REI where I tried on GPS systems. The Timex Ironman GPS is freakin' HUGE. Like, it would make a man's wrist look teeny. I've asked Birthday Clause for the Garmin 205. We shall see...

Enjoy your weekend. Stay in the shade or better yet indoors!

*and in the interest of my campaign to improve cyclist/pedestrian relations...I said "Good morning" to EVERY SINGLE PERSON that we passed. I even spoke to dogs. Hopefully, at least one runner thought, "Gee, that was a really cheerful cyclist. But why did she look so scared???"