there aren't alot of things that make me mad...

but the combination of bikes and rain will do it every time.
a few weekends ago tim, scott, tom, randy, garret and i headed up to swope park for the kc cup. it had been raining the previous day, but at 5 that morning, we still had the green light to race, so off we went. the air was misty but i was optimistic that this would just lead to the wimps bailing on the race.
since beginners race earlier than everyone else, randy and i got there so i could pre-ride before my race. 5 minutes into the lap i was made very aware of how much rain they'd gotten the day before. and about 15 minutes in, i'd wrecked and slopped around enough to be covered from head to toe in mud...which is an awesome time to get a flat. attempting to keep from getting mud all over my ipod i worked on trying to fix it...and failed. apparently my spare had a hole in it. not cool. like i said, there aren't alot of things that make me mad, and we won't go into great detail about the things that were said to my bike, but let's just say i wasn't a happy camper.
come to find out, boys who pass you don't always think you're cute enough to help you with your flat...even on a pre-ride...maybe it was the mud covering my entire self. i knew i had about 15 minutes before the race started and had no idea how long i was gonna have to walk my bike. and then randy came to the rescue. he switched me wheels so i could hurry to the start line...which i was not looking forward to at that point.
at the start line the 110 lb girl who smoked me at bone bender greeted me with a "wow, i guess we know it's muddy". not the best way to get me started for a race. but as i started to get used to riding in the mud and still falling over, i started to enjoy it. i had to save my opponent from falling off a drop off and was laughing at how ridiculous the whole experience was.
i ended up placing 3rd that day and 1st in my division for the series, so i was pretty pleased. muddy and all.

last weekend was the ms150. this was my 3rd year to do this ride and i figure i ride 60 miles on gravel no big deal, so i should be fine. except that i didn't do any training on my road bike. 50 miles in i was screaming "anne marie, you dummy! you should know better!" and other things at my bike, but still in good spirits and team "that's what she said" forged ahead.
and then we saw storm clouds. now, this was to be the century loop, so there was no way i was gonna stop for some silly lightning. i think sometimes my experience as a lifeguard spotting lightning gives me a false sense of safetey in meteorology...eh well. we were urged to "make it as quickly as possible to the next stop" so we could find shelter at about mile 65, and a few miles later it started sprinkling...and then raining...harder...and harder...to which point we would be on a downhill going about 25 and not be able to see. all i could think about was my ipod which i've only had a few months, and our tent and how drenched they were getting. priorities, i know.
riding into the stop i really couldn't see anymore, nor did i care, all i wanted was a warm building to be in and a towel. but first i had to stop. which i didn't do well since i couln't see the curb in front of me or realize my breaks wouldn't work so hot when wet. needless to say i took a spil and was a cranky cranker-pants after that. some nice men tried to tell me how to take care of it. i politely made them aware that i was a pro at crashing my mountain bike and would be fine, but that i was just mad. my ipod however, was totally fine! thank goodness for those cover things.
they'd cut our route short, which was a good idea, but heck, if i'm gonna be that miserable, i might as well do the dang 100 miles. but the wind happened to be really cold so we got finished i didn't care about being short 9 miles, i just wanted a hot shower.
our tents were drenched, so we got to purchace new sleeping bags and sleep in the gym, but we also got to meet up with the wintles, and i got to hold baby emory...the entire ride with rain and all was worth getting to hold that sweet baby girl :)
the next day was awesome. plus, before i'd left i'd had the feeling it'd be cold, so i'd packed my head warmer thingie, so i was golden in the chilly air.
overall, it was a very meorable experience and we got to raise money for a great cause. hopefully next year it won't rain...but i'll be prepared, with waterproof sweat suit stuff from head to toe!