Makin' Bacon

5lbs to be exact. Injury (ITBand) prevented me from doing a lot of things I wanted to this summer, not to mention putting me in a bad mood (sorry if you had to witness it). But now that I'm getting back on my bike I have enough perspective to see the upside to this injury.
I learned a lot of things! Some lessons were kind of a bummer. Like knowing their are friends that I only see when I can ride or ski with them. But most of the lessons were great, some life changing. I learned I can swim across the reservoir. I learned how to roller ski. I learned how to make pasta from scratch. I learned how important it is to be there for my active friends when they are hurt (which I have failed at in the past). I learned I need to make more time for my non-active friends. I learned that its okay, even fun, to be on the supporting side of things. Sure, I would rather have been racing, but if it weren't for this injury I would never have sat on a rock in the middle of nowhere cooking bacon in the middle of the night (1-5am) to feed and cheer on racers at 24hours of sage. And while I'm usually the one snarfing down as much food as I can find after a race, I got to feed bacon to a lot of hungry people afterwards. And while it was completely unnecessary, I felt useful and appreciated. And that might not be quite as nice as the endorphin rush of riding, but it was pretty close.
So we'll check "makin' bacon out on a race course" off my life list, take the lessons learned, and hopefully be riding big rides, climbing mountains, and running again soon!

Male Conspiracy

Take a close look at this picture. The saw blade I am attempting to replace is clearly not long enough for the saw. But it's the one that came with the saw... This is clearly part of the male conspiracy. That's right folks- the male conspiracy. This is the conspiracy by which males make tools, bike parts, electronics and random things in a fashion that makes them impossible for me (and I would argue most females) to figure out. Now I am by no means a "feminist". All for equal rights, yes, but acknowledging there are obvious differences between the sexes. And in most cases that leaves women as "less mechanical". But I have to wonder when I, even I (who grew up as the "son my father never had") struggle with simple household tools. I have used a bow saw before and even knew the difference between types of blades which is why I was changing from the blade used to cut metal to the blade meant for cutting wood. Right, so already I'm thinking I'm ahead of the curve on this one. But could I get the new blade in? No. Instead I took it to church with me, and found a man to help me. Earlier in the week a guy helped me fix a door and my bike. So the saw was really just a culmination of events that required male help with seemingly simple tasks. Not a big deal I suppose if you live near your father or have a boyfriend/husband, but a bit more troublesome for a single girl. Let me interject to give a shout out to all the awesome men in my life who help me with these things! But I have to question, could men make these things a bit more intuitive so that females wouldn't be beholden, or do they enjoy this power play, or can they really not design things that make sense to the female mind? Which leaves me two choices... design tools or practice batting my eyelashes.