Life On Two Wheels

Along the river and toward the mountains a morning shadow shimmers across the road. The rays of the first light jet through the trees and across a figure gliding upon the road. His breath trails in short spurts, petrified as it hits the icy air. All is quiet except the slight sound of the athlete as he summons himself for yet another days work. Soon the rest of the world will bustle with life as well and the brief simplicity of cyclist and nature will disappear into the everyday struggle of life in full motion; the errands and intervals, the appointments and intersections, and the deadlines and finish lines OutPaceTheRace

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Alive 'n on top... again

Seatac, WA
March 22, 2006

Things change quickly. A couple weeks ago I got an e-mail from Jonathan that contained a schedule telling me the races I’d be doing up until ~June. It said that I’d be doing Redlands this weekend. Then I got an e-mail saying I wasn’t doing it, in fact, I was actually the “first alternate.” Okay, I thought, that’s fine- what’re the chances that someone’s actually going to get sick or hurt, etc.? Pretty poor I thought…
So of course this morning (10:00) I’m in the car on the way to a hill that I’d planned on training on and I get a call from Jonathan- “Mike’s sick so you might have to catch a flight down this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about it though; train like you’re not going.” Well, okay, that’s easy enough.
5 minutes later I get a call from Ben, “you’re going to Redlands & your flight’s at 3:23 this afternoon.”
I was at a loss for the moment… “Couldn’t you get a later one so I can finish my ride today?”
“Nope, this was the only one under $1000!” So I ended up doing a short hour and a half long ride, quickly packing my bike & bag, & jumping in the car for the airport in route to Ontario, CA. It all adds an exciting twist to the day, I guess. The layover in San Francisco should be electrifying too.
Anyway, aside from the rush that's always involved in a day at the airport I’m once more within the confines of travel- the high priced trail mix, the “class-act businessmen,” & the oversized passenger beside me. Oh, and of course the bankrupt customer service associated with United, you’ve gotta love it. But the fact of the matter is that they never fail to give you grief in one way or another.
So I get on the plane and I see these two excessively obese humans, & I think there’s no way I’m gonna get a seat beside one of them. Fortunately I don’t, in fact, the plane isn’t even full. But I noticed that the row where the oversized ones were was completely full… That kinda sucks for the one’s beside ‘em who paid for their entire seats 'cause the fat dudes got an extra half seat free.