it’s a scenario that happens during nearly all my bike rides, but it shouldn’t. and while it usually is a bit unnerving, today was different. today i thought i could have been killed.

it goes like this:

car is approaching in the oncoming lane, i’m riding my bike in the opposite lane right near the white line. as the car approaches, i hear a car approaching in my lane from behind. instead of the car approaching in my lane from behind slowing, waiting for the oncoming car to pass, then slowly passing me (further than three feet away per WI law), the car will just keep on the gas and pass me AND the oncoming car all a once. i refer to this as the worst three way in history.

for those who learn visually, it’s like this:

about an hour into my ride this AM, this happened. and what made it scarier was two-fold. one, the guy actually accelerated when passing me. he had to have been going 65-70 mph. second, he was so close when he passed me; saying he was two feet away is being Mother Theresa generous. enraged, i gave him the finger immediately. and immediately he slammed on his brakes. i’m talking white cloud, tires screaming emergency type stop. and in doing so, he blocked my right-of-way with his car. i stopped, and for the next minute or so stood there listening to his crazy rant. he said i shouldn’t be in the road. he called me a bitch. his face was two inches from mine. and he ended his rant with this:

“what the hell gives you the right to give me the finger?” to which i replied, “dude, you almost just killed me with your car. i think that gives me the right to tell you to fuck off.”

he then told me that until i had a license plate and a motor on my bike, there was no way he was going to respect me on the road.

shocking, right? just a rare dick you say? unfortunately, no. Jack Fucko from this morning is 95% of the cars that pass me at full speed while i’m out riding. he’s the asshole redneck that stomps on the gas just as he passes, leaving me in a cloud of black smoke. he’s the punk twenty something that throws things out the window at me, or yells rude comments. the nice, considerate people that actually slow down and wait to pass until it’s safe? they are the rare birds on the road – maybe 5% of the motorists i encounter.

while i’ll never fully understand why most people do the asshole things they do, i have formed a hypothesis or two in efforts to explain them. maybe it’s jealousy. fat person mad about seeing a fit person working out, knowing they don’t have the will power to get out there and do it themselves. or perhaps it’s a power issue. scare the skinny dude on the bike, make yourself feel more dominant. my frontrunner? the impatience / inconsiderate combo. i really believe people are so fixed on themselves nowadays they simply are oblivious to cyclists / kids / animals on the roadways. that, and they just don’t care. for surely if they did, they wouldn’t pass someone riding a bike less than three feet away driving a 3,000+ pound car at 60 mph.

disagree? let’s meet up for a game. you stand by a tree, i get to shoot a bullet past you three feet to your left. oh, and stand with your back to me. it’s the same thing really. both your car and my bullet are affected by wind, mechanical stability, human judgement (and error). and both are deadly in the worse case scenario.

sounds fair, right?

with Ironman Wisconsin rapidly approaching in SEP, i thought i’d take a minute to share a brief training update. while i could easily sum it up by saying it has been long and hot, i know the mindset of the majority of my readers and will instead give you the detailed version. so get your minds out of the gutter pervos, and let’s move on, shall we?

i’m currently training about 20 hours per week, and with the new job schedule i’m finding it WAY easier to fit it all in. i don’t usually start work until 9:00am, so i can fit in a morning workout without having to wake up at 4:00 and zombie my way through a swim.

my typical weeks goes something like this:
MON: rest day
TUE: 3500 yd pool workout in the morning, 90+ minute run in the evening (20 min hard effort)
WED: 60 min bike followed by a 45 min run. this is called a brick workout and is meant to train the body to run better right off the bike.
THU: 3500 yd swim in the AM, 90+ bike with intervals (hard effort sets)
FRI: 3000 yd swim in the AM, 60 min run PM (15 min hard effort)
SAT: 5+ hour bike followed by a 60 min run. (another brick workout)
SUN: 2.5+ hour run in the AM, easy 60 min spin on the bike trainer in the evening.

my typical meal looks like this:

i’ve heard from several people that my attitude towards training and racing this year seems to be a lot different than it was last year – a better different. i guess that’s true. i’m not keeping a training log or figuring out the mileage of each ride / run. in all honesty i don’t really care. i don’t have any goal times set for my races, nor do i have any expectations. i think i worked myself up so much leading up to last years IM, overplanning everything. and while my dad’s health woes should have put things in perspective, mom’s fight with cancer certainly did. i’m not training for a medal or a fancy IM finisher’s T. and let’s face it: most people have no idea what an ironman even is. it’s not like a 12 hour finish time is going to land me a big promotion at work. instead, i’m busting my ass because i hate feeling of being winded after walking up a flight of stairs or pulling a back muscle bending over to tie my shoe. and i’ll admit it – seeing mom and dad go though two terrible years of health woes scared the shit out of me. it would scare the shit out of anybody. that’s me in twenty years, and if i can lessen the risk of ending up in that hospital bed by running, swimming, and biking, HELL YES i’ll keep doing it. plus, i’ve grown to really enjoy the alone time that comes with training for hours at a time, so it’s kind of a win win.

i’ve raced twice this past week and walked away with first place medals in each race. my pal Steve and i won the men’s team division in Marshfield last SAT, and Steve, my brother Dave, and i had the fastest overall team time yesterday at the Woodson YMCA Triathlon. i swam a 5:33 quarter mile and have to admit i was pretty happy to hear my old swim coach call me a fish when he saw my time. and with all the positive reinforcement i’ve been getting with my training this season, i’m finding myself with a confidence i’ve never felt before. it has helped me quit my job, and it’s helping me find contentment with the fact i’m 32 and have no clue what i want to do when i grow up. for now, i’m ok doing what i’m doing, and that feels pretty damn good.

so that’s the good news. now here’s the bad. after the race yesterday, i hopped on the bike for a 5.5 hour ride, and after 30 minutes of great weather, the skies opened up. after spending the next two hours in what seemed like a near hypothermic state, the rain subsided and i regained feeling in my fingers nearing hour four of the ride just in time to do this:

as i let my arm dangle from the TT bars to stretch my shoulder, something i’ve done hundreds of times before, a brief lapse in thinking swung my arm into my front wheel at 19 mph. stupid, stupid, stupid. while i luckily still have all my fingers and didn’t break anything, i will easily loose a week or more in the pool. plus, this will also mean all my rides for the next few weeks will likely have to be done on the trainer. but with IMWI just a month away, there’s no time to waste. sure i could be bummed, but what’s the point? it happened, it certainly won’t happen again, and all the pissing and moaning in the world won’t heal my hand any faster. so as i sit here, typing away at this post in one finger glory, i’m still excited for next month’s race. i’m still going to head out for a run this morning, and i’m still confident in where things are at in my life. i once heard that overcoming setbacks leads to the greatest rewards of all. hopefully that’s true as this one’s certainly a doozie.

now i just have to figure out how to get my socks on…