Prayer request

I've had a really tough start to the semester. I'm really frustrated with my progress in the program and the program itself. I've been praying a lot, but maybe a few more prayers would help.

So for those of you who read this, would you please pray that

1) I keep my anger, anxiety, and frustration under control (at a minimum that I remain professional)

2) I am kind and forgiving to everyone without allowing myself to taken advatage of

3) That I stop feeling guilt for things I can't control

4) That I remember that Liz is on my side and God is in control

Thanks

(5) and if you have spare prayer time left over maybe ask God to help me find time to bike once or twice a week.

Cramp

It is the time of the year where club rides are starting again. I tend to enjoy these since they help me keep up my mileage during the busy weeks. It looks like I'll be able to get to two rides a week if I am able to keep on top of my work. I'd be happy with that.

Rides start and end at the coRec. This means that following the ride I get to ride another 4.1 miles home. During this stretch there is one moderate hill and one small hill. Following the club rides they both feel much harder. I usually end up slogging up them with much form.

Yesterday I was at the top of the medium hill, following a club ride, and I had a calf cramp. I can't remember the last time my leg has cramped up like this. For a minute or two I thought I was going to have to call Liz to pick me up. It would have been an interesting conversation.

Me: I can't make it home. Will you come pick me up?

Liz: Where are you?

Me: about 2 blocks away

Liz: no

Me: Why not?

Liz: You're just being a baby

I light of my hypothetical conversation I figured I'd skip the call and just bike home. Indeed, I made it home just fine. It was by far the worst leg cramp I've ever had. It is still sore now more than 12 hours later. CRAZY!

Later that night I discovered that my phone doesn't work anymore so I may not have been able to call her anyway. The buttons are possessed on my phone. Buttons work, but who knows what they will actually do. I may have accidentally called two or three people last night while trying to check my voice mail.

Zionsville pictures

Here are pictures from my Zionsville race. This is the race where I crashed. The first one is before I crashed, and the rest are after I crashed and lost contact with the main field.

Feeling good here.... 2nd place

Nasty turns on the cobblestones made me nervous (but weren't part of the crash)

Approaching turn 2 where I crashed.

Gazing down the main stretch knowing that I won't catch up.

New tire

My back tire was getting tired. Enough chuncks of rubber had been gouged out that a flat was becoming inevitable. Thankfully, it happed all of a sudden while I was sleeping in bed. Woke up in the morning and it was competely flat. The odd thing was that it held pressure when I pumped it up. I didn't ride it though, it would have been risky.

I finally got around to getting a new tire and changing both the tube and tire tonight. Here is the big surprise, the spare tube that I carry around in my saddle bag ended up being the right size but the valve stem is too short!!!! I specifically asked them what size I needed when I got the bike and they handed me that box. If I had ever had a flat on the open road, I would have gone through all the motions only to realize at the very end that I couldn't inflate the thing. Gah. Makes my stomach contract.

Anyway, I now have a stock of spare tubes that all have the wrong size valve, a tire with no tube, and a half assembled bike. blah. I guess I'll force myself to go back to the bike shop tomorrow and exchange them because spending time in the shop is such a chore for me.

The shorts that were

The shorts that were

They should look like this (Right leg):

but now look like this (left leg):

Single tear

Pictures of scrapes

I took pictures of my road rash tonight. I decided that they were finally healed enough to post some pictures. It's been 9 days. However, I understand that some people aren't into seeing road rash or any portion of my behind (no matter how healed it is) so I posted them to a post from a long time ago. If you want you can see them, you can click right here.

On the picture of the calf, if you look close you can see all the pink skin that has already grown back underneath the little bit that still looks gross. On my hip, you can see the red vertical lines underneath the gross part that tell you which way I was sliding on the ground.

For everyone that doesn't want to look at my gross legs, you can enjoy this picture:

I'm sorry if it makes you think of Walmart. I don't really endorse them, but I do shop there so I can't bash them too much.

note... yes, I do own and wear "red fish, blue fish" Dr. Seuss boxers as evidenced in the pictures. All the real men do it.