8:02 AM

West End Ride

Yup, just a little behind here - but, I wanted to make sure to post this...

On Thursday, Kathleen, Kim and I did the West End ride for the first time.  In passing emails throughout the day, we all thought that we'd be dropped like nothing else - which kinda happened when we were stopped at every light through downtown.  In all - it was a fun ride...

Perhaps the funniest part of the night happened at a red light in the med center.  I'd been having problems clipping in with my left foot so I decided to try the right.  As we were waiting for the light to change, I inexplicably started shifting to the left and, in slow motion, fell.  There was a 60ish year old lady and her son in the car next to me.  The look of horror on her face was funny (in hindsight).  The window slowly rolls down and she asks, "Baby, are you okay?  How far do you have left to ride? You must be exhausted."  Someone told her that we had about 10 miles left.  "Oh, my! That is crazy.  That poor girl is exhausted.  Baby, are you gonna make it back.  10 miles is a long way."  As I picked up my pride, I smiled and said that I was fine.  The whole thing still makes me laugh.

Oh, West End ride, Black Betty (my road bike), thanks you.  She's been feeling a bit resentful as she's been confined to the trainer in the living room.  After that ride, I'm taking off the clip on aerobars and bringing her back to her glory days as a road bike.  I even cleaned her drive train last night -- good lord she needed it.

Kathleen, Kim and I after the "epic" 18 mile ride

9:47 PM

Bluebonnet Express

Or Simple Rules to Follow When Doing an Organized Ride.
Or Don't Be Rude.

1.  Wait your turn.  When starting the ride, wait for your route to be called.  When the organizer calls for those who are biking the 70 mile route, don't start if you are only doing 40.  This is for your own good.  Although, you may think that it is a) unfair for those doing the longer ride to get an early start; b) unneccessary for you to have to wait; or, c) doesn't matter because you are important and need to be done riding early, don't do it! Out of respect for all that is holy, wait your freakin' turn.  This really does help the organizers and volunteers direct traffic along the route.  When the shorter routes have a turn only 3 miles into the course while the longer routes go straight, the volunteers don't expect the need to direct your 40 mile self to the turn when you weren't even supposed to have started yet

2.  Be alert.  So, you didn't follow number 1 and are now starting out with the 70 milers.  In this case, don't rely on the volunteers to direct you -- you aren't supposed to be at this turn for another 10-15 minutes.  Also, when you've missed the turn, pay attention to the riders around you.  Don't turn left directly into someone. Pay attention when people are trying to call out to you.

3.  Don't Be a Jack@ass.  Whenever you do turn into someone and cause a crash, you need to see if that person is okay.  Under no circumstancs is it acceptable to pick yourself up, quickly apologize and then head out to your short 40 mile route while the person you hit after breaking the above rules is still on the ground.  Don't be that guy...  No one likes that guy... you might think that its okay because no one knows that it was you -- you made a "clean" getaway but, your day will come.  Karma is a beatch... 

As much as I may be complaining, and yes, I am... I'm still pissed.  Not that it screwed up my ride, but because now I'm paying for it -- literally.  I JUST bought a new helmet 3 weeks ago.  My gorgeous new pink helmet is done.  That said, it did its job and it has the cracks and crumples to prove it (and I have the no loss of consciousness to go with it).  Also, I paid 35 bucks to ride 3 miles... kinda ridiculous.  Finally, I know there will be some cost for a bike repair.  I managed to take a pretty nice chunk out of my aerobars and am hoping that Andrew at Tri on the Run can just tape over it (or something)... That said, if you add in my bottle of water, a ride in the sag hummer, a nice chat with the fabulous ride marshalls from the Clay Walker Cycling Team, a Waller police officer, and the Waller EMS - it was 35 dollars well spent considering the circumstances. As an aside, the EMS paramedics noted that I was in excellant shape and were quite impressed with my low 50s heart rate.  Also, I got to spend some time in the massage tent.  When getting back to the ride start, I had some time to kill.  (I'd carpooled and was waiting for the crew to get back; then decided to take James on his offer to come get me).

To end on a positive note, this ride has excellent support and is a first rate event by Northwest Cyclery.  This is the same group that does Katy Flatlands in June.  Although, I did enjoy Katy Flatlands more, it had nothing to do with the ride organization -- in June, only the "real" riders are out there -- all of the MS150-only riders are gone.  Also, the ride marshalls were beyond caring.  The group of marshalls that helped me were from Band Against MS, a group that likes to eat, drink, and ride.  I cannot thank these people enough for taking care of me. 

In sum, I'm fine.  I wasn't hurt; just a bit shaken up and had (and still have) a bit of a headache.  And, even though I didn't finish the ride, Kathleen still gave me a brownie.. :-)

4:03 PM

I'm Registered


Truth be told, I'm looking for a HUGE PR and think that its possible.  For my first (and only) HIM at Longhorn in 2008, one could say that I was undertrained.  Truthfully, I was untrained and Heather, Kim, and Ingrid will confirm this fact.  Prior to the race, I did one 50 mile bike ride, two hilly rides of about 30 miles each (and complained the entire time), one brick, minimal open water swims, and maybe swam 1600 meters in a workout twice.  Considering that, I was pretty darn happy to finish in just over 8 hours (46 minute swim; 4 hour bike; 3 hour run). 

Now, I'm biking and running better than ever.  Deep down, I know my capabilities.  My goal is to push them to the max on race day... I'll post the numbers as we get closer to race day.

11:44 PM

I went out on a school night...

and had a very good time.  Congrats to James (not the hubby James) for passing his final exam to be a nursing assistant. 

I met up with some good friends tonight at the Petrol Station.  Yes, it is in that great unknown of outside the loop; however, after a few Bombshell Blondes, everything was a-ok...

And, because I NEVER post pictures (a fact of which I was reminded tonight).. here are some photos from tonight.

Ashley and Lee


James - the celebrant
Matt and Diana

Diana and James (whom the bar called Bearded James)

Most of the peeps

This made me laugh...

10:32 PM

Not always equitable

I'll admit it - I like my career.  I like being a lawyer [insert bad joke here].  For the most part, the law is about being equitable and fair.  Even when I was doing personal injury defense, the goal wasn't to keep some poor worker from getting money; it was making sure that everything was fair.  That said, if your accident was your fault, then you shouldn't get anything.  (oh, another little secret, I kinda miss going out on the ships and meeting the various crewmembers.  Apparently, there typically aren't any real estate emergencies like that.) 

Anyway, most times, the goal of the law is to put things right or the way that they should have been (i.e., I tear down your house, I should have to rebuild your house and put you up in a hotel while it is being built).  But, this just topic just hit me the wrong way --- employer-employee liability.  When should an employer be held liable for the intentional acts of his employees?  On this topic, the law does not seem consistent or always fair.  Here are a few examples:

A.    I get into an accident with a bus driver who is on duty and driving the bus.  While exchanging information, he hits me.  Is the bus company liable? 

B.    Door man at the new hip club tells two men that they aren't allowed in yet.  During the discussion, the doorman hits one of the men.  Is the club liable?

C.   Employee of XY Enterprises meets to sell me stock in the company.  I agree to purchase.  Employee says that we need to complete the transaction at a later date because he doesn't have the right stock certificates.  When we meet, he sells me stock in XY Inc. (his own side company that is worthless).  Is XY Enterprises liable? 

D.  Employee sues company for intentional infliction of emotional distress based on conduct of supervisor?  Is the employer liable for the supervisor's conduct? 

Let me know what you think.  These are all real cases.  I'll post what the courts have decided in the next day or so...

11:04 PM

Update

Just a few thoughts -

1) Lesson of the week (well maybe decade) - discretion.  In an effort to maintain my lesson, I won't discuss.

2) Austin Marathon - 4:15:00 - a HUGE PR for me.  And, seriously, who runs a marathon and hits their goal time exactly...

3) Work is good - LOVE the new job.

4) To become a faster runner, you must run with the fast peeps.  I've been doing this on Saturdays with the Knuckleheads... will have to post splits at some point (whenever I really do update the blog).

5) Its time to go to sleep.  Hopefully I can get my lazy @ss out of bed and on the trainer in the morning.

6) Margaritas make a trainer ride go by faster.  If all rides were like tonight, I'll start doing tequila shots before races (and yes, dead serious).