One of Those Days...

I hopped on my bike today for a 90 minute ride that included some short hard intervals. It is my recovery week and the short intervals help to keep me recovered, but "open". It was my kind of day today...hot and humid. I love it! I did my swim today outside, in one of my favorite spots, which was gorgeous at 7 AM (see picture to the right of this spot named "George's Bay" by my friends). Then I caught up on some of my coaching and got ready to ride. I was psyched for my ride as I haven't ridden my Scott Plasma since last week (I was visiting friends in Boulder for a wedding and was riding my road bike the past week...see picture of my friend Simon on a ride in Colorado below to the left and of my friend's Jim and Danielle at there wedding below right). I dressed in a sleeveless tri top (Zoot of course) and my Zoot shorts (all pink and black), threw on my pink Rudy Projects and my silver and purple Specialized bike shoes and was ready to rock.

Today, I decided to head to Hecksher park to do my intervals. I was riding solo. As I pulled off of my block and onto the main road, a Landscaping truck filled with landscapers (who else would be in a landscaping truck?!) was stopped at a light. As they passed me, I got blessed with many "cat calls" and looks. Predictable, as this is a common occurrence with men in Landscaping trucks, but not necessarily "enjoyable". I did what I usually do...ignore them and ride on. Sometimes I laugh to myself because it is actually pretty funny... Today I just moved on.

Five minutes later I was heading down the road in my aero position when I got a "shock". As I was riding and minding my business, a car full of guys (high school kids?) drove up next to me and smacked me as they drove by. They didn't smack me with their car, instead they drove up real close and reached out of the window smacking me with their hands! They were going for my ass, no doubt (believe it or not this has happened to me before...getting smacked on the ass by kids in a car), but they missed and hit my back and arm instead. Not knowing what was going on, I jumped up and almost wiped out right there. As soon as I realized what happened I got their license plate.

Once they sped away, I stopped and started crying like a little girl...not quite crying out loud, but a sniffle and a few tears instantly occurred. (Honestly, I am not very "stoic". I cry relatively easily...people who don't know me well would be surprised to hear this...those who know me very well would not be surprised in the least) . I composed myself and called my boyfriend to leave the license plate number with him and ask if he could give it to his cop friend. Of course I called to get some sympathy from him as well (like most any sad/hurt girl would do)! No answer as I suspected (I called his cell...didn't feel like this incident warranted bothering him at work...so I left a message on the cell. It would do the trick...I felt a little better). THEN, I called my mom (like any sad/hurt/upset/lonely on the side of the road little girl would do). I got some real nice sympathy from her (that naturally made me feel better)! Finally, after feeling more pissed off than sad I headed back on my bike for my workout. For some extra motivation on my intervals, I pictured the punks that harassed me being caught and beat up! Childish? I don't care...it got me fired up!

On the way to the park (after getting smacked) I was stopped at a light, when a shady looking car with a man about 50-something pulled up next to me and asked, "Are you training for the Olympics"? "F%$#* YOU and leave me alone you dirty bastard!" is what I wanted to say..."YES, I AM" is what I did say... Would this man pull up next to a guy on his bike and strike up this conversation? Maybe, but I doubt it. I was still not over getting smacked and harassed and my tolerance was gone.

On the way home, I was about to turn back onto my street and who was there? A different group of landscapers that all stopped and stared at me as I went by. After passing them (feeling every single eye on me) I heard the all too familiar creepy giggles from the group that no doubt followed a perverted comment by one of the group members. I don't have anything against landscapers, per Se, it just seems that 90+% of the time that I pass them while riding on my bike alone, I get a response such as the previous responses that I have just described. I could bet money on it and could make more than I do as a Professional Triathlete (not hard to do, I know)!

So, as I think about it, it just makes me angry that this is something that I have to deal with, but deal with it I must. Besides the fact that I could have fallen after being hit and had a "career-ending injury", I could have fallen and broken my neck! ...those kids don't care and don't think that way, I know, but the point is that it is rare to ride around by myself and not come across some sort of incident. There are always incidents, even when I am riding with a guy or group of guys, but they are different incidents... You might hear a, "get the F#%@* out of the road!", or you might get a beep and the finger out the window to follow, but rarely do I react by feeling harassed and sorry for myself and I never react by crying on the side of the road with cell phone in hand. Sometimes I wonder how I will get through my career without any major incidents on the roads around Long Island (I love Long Island, but I find it unfortunate that many of the people around here do not appreciate cyclists in the least). Of course, I cannot dwell on this, and I wont. I love what I do and I love to train. I definitely like company, but I like solo riding too. I won't let it get to me too much, but today was just "one of those days"!