Monday, November 26, 2012

The Grey's Law (OR Join The Parade!) And MORE!

Ride
time- 2:56
distance- 40mi

Another ride and some swimming and running also

It has once again been forever since I've written anything. It has not been forever since I've worked
out, I just have fallen off the blog train pretty hard of late.
Like I've been saying for a while I'm struggling with motivation and injury prevention. Some runs still end in knee pain, some swims end when energy flat lines, and rides happen mostly when friends drag my lazy ass out the door. It comes, I think, from the proximity of Dirtbag Fetus making his/her entry to the world and no events on the near horizon. A dip was expected after the Honu, but this is ridiculous. I need to be better.
The last rides have been pretty good. On Labor Day the Grey and I hit the road for 40 miles, during which he shared what is now Grey's Law.
The Grey of Grey's Law
 Grey's Law states that Whenever the Road is Narrowest, This is When Vehicles Will Absolutely Have to Pass You Right Now. This is especially true on the short bridges which speckle the landscape here in Hawaii. If it will take me on a bike fifteen seconds to get across it odds are the car behind me will need to get across in ten seconds. Which means he'll pull into more of the center of the lane and jam on the gas, blowing by me. And nothing is more fun than the draft of a car and the wizz of a rear view mirror.
Also, when you ride with the Grey he will quote his Law at you every time it happens. On a bike this is done by shouting at you over the wind.
We got to the bottom and Kaena Point, rested, then turned around. This was basically the same route the Grey, Diesel, and I did this weekend.

What was unusual about our Labor Day ride was what happened on the way home. We have to ride through Wahiawa to get home. Apparently, Wahiawa holds a Labor Day parade. Who knew? And said parade was crossing the road right when we got there, stopping traffic. You may think to yourself, "But you are on bicycles. Surely you can easily cut through the parade without disruption." That's what we thought too. However, let me present Officious Guy in Orange Vest:

You have met him. You know him. He has An Orange Vest. This makes him Important. And he decided we could not possibly cross the road. We needed to wait. You know, in case we ran over a marcher or something. Which is completely true. Look at how close each group is to the next. There is no way we could possibly make it.

There's NO SPACE AT ALL
So we walked our bikes five feet away from Man In Orange Vest, then sprinted across the street. Suck it, Man In Orange Vest. Which led to some of the best riding ever. The road was completely empty. We may or may not have ridden right in the middle of both lanes, exulting in the openess. It might have been awesome.
As for this weekend's ride, the biggest note I have was that Pineapple Hill was the hottest it has ever been. Seems crazy to say in November, but we set out late so the sun was higher, there was absolutely no wind, and it just was beating down. I was melting. I don't know that I've ever been hotter during a training ride. It was pretty brutal.
Having the guys does do so much for getting me out on the bike. I struggle to find motivation to get in the pool. I feel good to start, then the wheels come off more often than not. And I can run for a while but eventually my knee beings to hurt, even with the rehab I've been doing. It's a process, and I'm trying not to get frustrated. Well, too frustrated. Sometimes positive is hard to come by. It's a weird time right now.
The biggest workout coming up isn't mine, it's Super Awesome Wife's. It's been on my mind quite a bit. I get to be active support, which will be fine. My struggle is not having a start time. We don't want to induce, we want to be natural. But that means I need to learn patience. Not good with that. I like to know the race starts at 6am on this day. Ready go. This whole it starts when it starts and even when it starts it might start and stop and hurry up and wait is messing with me pretty good.
...anyway, that's probably a post for another time.

3 comments:

  1. "We don't want to induce, we want to be natural. But that means I need to learn patience."

    Turns out, patience is needed in either case. Even medicine doesn't turn out a 3-2-1 GO.

    3 days before Fit Life Mini was born, I ran a then-local 5k. It kept me sane during the waiting. I hear what you're saying!

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  2. Hi Just found your blog via an active.com article. Now following, very inspiring! www.i-heartfitness.blogspot.com

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  3. I feel honored to have the Grey's Law immortalized in your blog! I expect to see many other cyclists shouting it out over the wind every time they get passed on a narrow lane or bridge! Maybe I'll even hear it as a camera van passes the break-away at the next Tour De France!

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