3TT: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good - After what seemed like an eternity (for me, not you), Nuun announced how our Hood to Coast teams would be divided on Tuesday. Each of the 36 runners was placed on a team, (Morning, Noon or Night) and assigned to a leg. Since we were allowed to give our preference of legs, I chose leg 1, leg 3 and leg 4 as my top three. I really wanted to be in van 1 in order to see other half of the course, as I was in van 2 last year.

So, what did I get?

Team Noon: Leg 7. (Click HERE for course maps)

Honestly, it probably wouldn't have been on my top three of van 2. At first I was a little bummed, but all that "woe is me" crap got washed away when I saw the rest of my van. Talk about awesomesauce. I hit the van-mate jackpot and I know we are going to have a blast.

Team Noon: AfterNuun Delight Van 2
Tonia – Racing With Babes: Legs 7, 19, 31
Kim – Nuun Employee: Legs 8, 20, 32
Tiffany – Heavy Medal: Legs 9, 21, 33
Zoe – Nuun Employee: Legs 10, 22, 34
Jessica – Pace of Me: Legs 11, 23, 35
Lindsay – Lindsay On The Go: Legs 12, 24, 36

And van 1 is pretty amazing too ...

Van 1
Kelly – According to Kelly: Legs 1, 13, 25
Laura – Nuun Employee: Legs 2, 14, 26
Laura– Camping Out In America: Legs 3, 15, 27
Jocelyn – Enthusiastic Runner: Legs 4, 16, 28
Sarah – Once Upon a (L)ime: Legs 5, 17, 29
Molly – Mollyberries’ Hodge Podge: Legs 6, 18, 30

Watch out Team Morning and Team Night, it's on. (I'm so not competitive at all ...)

The Bad -  Yesterday afternoon, I ran out to the store to pick up some groceries. On the way home, I was accelerating from a stop when a car cut into my lane and sideswiped me. (I'm totally fine, by the way).

Startled from what had happened, I quickly collected myself and noticed that the other driver paused just ahead of my car and then started driving again. I followed thinking that he or she was pulling out of the way of traffic so that we could exchange information.

When we got to the traffic signal, I got a bad feeling and pulled out my phone to snap a picture of the other car.

Good thing I did, because seconds later, the other car turned and booked it.

A freaking hit and run.

I called the cops and hopefully they can find the person. Either way, pretty much the entire front right side of the car needs to be replaced. So that's awesome!

The Ugly - I have been growing out my hair for the last few months. I have also been bleaching my hair every four weeks for the past few months. Now, after all that abuse, my hair has had enough. It's pretty much stopped holding color, lost all of it's curl, has a waxy feel and horrible texture. I mean, last night I took this picture after J told me I looked like a troll doll ...

Note: There is NO PRODUCT in my hair ...

It was bad. And I was over it.

So, like any rational person, I decided to start from scratch. I told J to get the clippers and to shave my head. We thought it was kind of hilarious. So we videotaped part of it ...



Yeah, that happened. Despite how truly UGLY it looked, I really like the end result.

That's right. The fohawk is back ...

a cautionary tale ...

I might be extremely slightly paranoid about riding my bike on the open road.

I don't like throwing in a slew of variables into something that already makes me uneasy. The possibility of poor road conditions, riding downhill and around sharp turns and the presence of vehicles all freak me out. So, unless someone invites me to ride, I ALWAYS choose my trainer over the open road.

There's something about having someone else there that makes the whole process less scary. Like, they are going to keep me safe. Or at least if something happens to me, they can go call for help.

On Friday, my friend D and I decided to tackle the roads for 30 miles. Since D is just as uneasy on her bike as I am, we planned a route with as little traffic as possible.

Five miles on moderately congested roads. Twenty miles (3 loops) through office parks where there were ZERO vehicles since it was after the start of the work day. And then five miles back on those same moderately congested roads.

Once we settled in (and got off the moderately congested roads), the ride was awesome. We looped the office park side-by-side, chatting away. We were feeling strong. And confident.

As we headed back on the five mile stretch to our start point, we separated. I pulled ahead slightly, but always had a feel for how close D was.

With less than two miles left, we hit a traffic light. D caught up and when it turned green, we eased back in to our ride.

About a half a block later, I rode past an entrance for a shopping center. As I did, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a car coming our direction from the median. I didn't know where D was in relation to me. She could have been right on my tail or a few bike lengths back. I wasn't really sure.

A split second later, I knew exactly where she was, because I heard her scream.

I stopped as fast as I could and unclipped. When I turned around D was on the ground, half way under her bike. A passing runner was helping her out. A car (the one I noticed out of the corner of my eye) was less than two feet away from D, parked across both lanes of traffic.

The driver, who had cut across two lanes of traffic to make a last minute turn into the shopping center, was sticking her head out of the window asking if D was OK. She never saw her. I'm not really sure if she ever saw me. Maybe she was texting. Maybe she looked in her mirror, didn't see any cars and cut across never considering someone might be biking, running or walking by.

Fortunately, D screamed as the car approached (the car windows were down). It probably saved her.

D's OK now. She had a few scrapes and was severely shaken up, but she got back on her bike and finished the ride. For me, the whole situation was scary and surreal. It was like I was watching it happen in slow motion, but could do nothing to change the outcome.

I think both of us rode away asking, "What if?" A million scenarios played in my head. I'm not sure if any of them made me feel any better, but they all reminded me that when you are out on the roads (on bike or on foot) you can never be too careful. You can't assume someone else is paying attention and let your guard down. It's your own responsibility to stay safe.

And when you are driving, focus on DRIVING. Nothing else. It might just save someone's life ...