Thursday, May 26, 2011

busy bee

CHALLENGES ARE WHAT MAKE LIFE INTERESTING; OVERCOMING THEM IS WHAT MAKES LIFE MEANINGFUL.

i think my little challenge (read: misbehaving glute/hammy) is behind me for the most part, no pun intended. thanks to Andrew, my ART guy, who has worked magic in just 3 sessions, i am able to run again. it is slower than i like but i'm so happy to just be able to get out in the morning before work and clear my mind. i will say that i feel somewhat spastic the first mile or two and then settle in but something has changed and what that is, alludes me. it also seems to have created a change in how i'm feeling on the tri bike. i'm very uncomfortable but i'll save that story and issue for the next blog post (hopefully it won't take me 2 weeks to write up another post, which seems to be the trend lately).

i've had this partially started blog sitting in draft since Sunday ..shame on me. i haven't been "feeling" the blog thing lately ...meh! not sure if it is out of laziness or b/c of just plain old being too busy. maybe a little of both. i've been getting in a lot of saddle time though, which makes me happy. of course, with all this time out and about on the bike, you meet some pretty cool folks along the way but sometimes you meet a few pests too. this brings me to my story. a story about a guy with many monikers. none of them good.

he kinda looked like the picture above but with a different kit on.

anyway, I've been meaning to write about this very annoying character we have come into contact with 3 times in less than a year. the last time being last Saturday on the Suncoast Trail, an awesome 41 mile rail trail. i'm sure many of you can relate and probably have a similar story of your own and please share it if you'd like. first let me tell you about the first time we encountered this freak-a-zoid. It was last summer and it was a group of about 6-8 of us riding. we were doing a 100 mile ride as part of my 140.6 training so we thought it would be nice to change up the route a bit. somewhere along this trail, a cyclist on a Kestrel roadbike, wearing a black Cadillac jersey and black cycling shorts, joins in out of nowhere and starts mixing it up. by mixing it up, i mean he just cut into our paceline and then everytime we got near a section with a climb, he would sprint to show everyone up and then he would rudely cut back into the middle of our paceline. it didn't take us long to figure this boy out. he obviously has some mental issues. he thinks he is 20 but he's going on 70 (at least he looks about that old) and he is one can short of a six pack. the other problem we have with this jackwagon is that if he doesn't cut into the paceline, he will ride next to you as close as he can get and he looks at you and sneers and does some kind of strange movement that can be interpreted as a challenge, as if he is saying, "c'mon, you wanna race?" ( i am not making this up). he rides so dangerously! needless to say, he did this one time and the boys in our group caught on and everytime we got to a climbing section, they would all take off and beat him up the climb. the only reason we were finally able to rid ourselves of this menace is when the trail ended and we went in a different direction. ever since that first encounter last year, we came up with a lot of names for him, such as, King of the Suncoast, Suncoast Stalker, a-hole, and douchebag to name just a few. our second encounter was 2 weeks ago. it was less of an encounter and more of just a sighting. he had his sights on a different group of cyclists so we were able to escape his crazy wrath. last week's ride was another story. he was waiting for us like a thief in the night, like a stalker. he did his usual, cut into the paceline and invading everyone's personal space but we were ready for him this time. he got his ass handed to him on every climb by at least one person each time he pulled his shenanigans. it was so funny to watch. i did not get involved because i was too busy writing this story in my head as it all unfolded ahead of me. the best part was the last climb ...he took off and the j-man looked like he got shot out of a cannon. he blew by this whack job and when j-man got to the top of the climb, which is the end of the trail, he raised his hands in victory, like the winners of a stage in the tour de france. it was classic and i wish i would have had a camera or video cam with me. of course, i had to get the last word in, so i told the guy as i went by him that he just got schooled AGAIN! we all agreed next time that we aren't playing that game again and we will kindly tell him that he is not welcome to ride with us. end of story. my question is this ...what is this guy's problem? obviously, nobody wants to ride with him because everytime we have seen him, he is alone. ok, that's all the press he is getting on this blog. maybe he will stumble upon this blog and recognize himself.
the best group of cycling buddies out there. thanks Linda M. for taking this pic. we just finished 85 miles and look how happy we look! even after the encounter with the Suncoast Stalker.

huge shout out to Jeff, Shann, and Bob who kicked Ironman Texas ass this past Saturday. they are warriors in that heat and humidity. i know i've already told each of you all this but i will say it again, i'm so proud of you. it was so much fun stalking them on the IM website.

i'm heading out on a bit of an adventure this weekend and will update when i get back. until then, i hope everyone has a wonderful, long holiday weekend. be safe!

much love and peace out!

19 comments:

  1. I guess I have been lucky to not run into this guy in any ride, but I have only done Suncoast 5 times so that may be why (other than it's usually just two or three of us riding so maybe we're not worth his time). You guys have more patience than I have though. I would probably take him down by this time. I need a stress relief :)

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  2. Not for nothing but who would mess with that crew? I mean look at how badass they all look.

    I would ask politely in a real low voice like a 5 year old who was just scolded if I could join....

    Enjoy your weekend my friend and I hope it has an extra happiness to it b/c TB rocked Beantown in Game 7.

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  3. Hope you have a great time this weekend -- officially jealous (-:

    I would have stopped and physically threatened the guy. Sometimes you have to do those things.

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  4. What a creep. I think you hardcore types probably attract a lot of jerks wanting to prove themselves. I, on the other hand, get s different kind of ass. Like the guy who drafted on his road bike behind my HYBRID and then pulled alongside to chat and mentioned how nice it was to ride behind me bc he'd been starting to break a sweat and I kept his speed slower (apparently his first ride after getting a pacemaker) AND bc I was big and blocked the wind. Uhhh...glad to help.

    Have a great weekend. Glad you're able to get out and train again.

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  5. Yeah, next time we won't be so nice. He'll get told one time to back off and if he doesn't then we can get ugly on him. I have no problem talking smack. @Jason, not even if he begged on his hands and knees. @Jeff - if you ever come to Tampa, we'll go find him and beat him up. Everyone is invited. @Kate - OMG, how rude. I may have been speechless too.

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  6. So I have totally been missing out. I run the FlashBlock plugin in Firefox because I hate Flash for the most part. Any ways, it has been blocking your awesome sidebar tunes! Now that I unblocked your site, I am totally rocking out! I'm going to have to bug you start posting on a daily basis so I can keep coming back to rock :)

    Your stalker sounds like a piece of work. There is a woman around here that always tries to suck my wheel around the lake. She is horrible to ride with because she doesn't stop or slow down at red lights or stop signs. I come to a complete stop at red lights (unless turning right) and at least slow at stop signs. Multiple times now, she has just about taken me out because she is so focused on sucking wheel. I found that I can A) either throw down the hammer and drop her in a mile or so or B) add on a completely optional hill halfway around the lake and she won't follow me.

    Have fun this weekend! My 100 Miles of Nowhere course is currently under water :( Hopefully it dries out by Saturday.

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  7. KC! I've missed your blog, but I totally understand not feelin' it lately. Way to log the miles in on the saddle. It looks like you've got a great group to ride with, minus the Suncoast Stalker! I'm glad the ART is working for you. I hope you get all the kinks worked out soon so you can be back to your normal self. Keep up the good work!

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  8. Okay, that is really weird. I am so glad that J-man showed him up! And I continue to be very jealous of your great riding buddies.

    I have a great story but I will email it to you because it doesn't make me look all that good!

    Have a great weekend!

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  9. HAPPY HAPPY with the ART success. REMEMBER, EASE into it. I am sidelined another 2 weeks with the achilles but I have plenty of biking to catch up on now haha.

    I like Douchebag. This is my catch all name for every A-Hole out there.

    Obviously he has some sort of deranged competitive side in his mind. Pathetic and unsafe is what it is.

    We dont do much group riding so I can't relate with the paceline comments but I just wouldn't let him in haha.

    Have a great weekend!!!!!

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  10. I lived in FL for 6 yrs.. my husband was stationed at Macdill afb. We ran with Brandon running association and I've been on that trail! Small world!!

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  11. I think thqat your plan to ask him not to ride in your paceline is the best course of action.

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  12. OMG the Suncoast Stalker!!! wow what a Freeeeeeak. No good - stay clear fer sure.
    bummed about your puck sqaud...but excited for the Finals should be a great series go Nucks

    D

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  13. Ha, great story! Maybe I'll get to ride with you at some point and I can ensure I'm nothing like that guy! Glad to hear the leg is doing well too. Do you think you'll be racing in a couple weeks or no? I can't wait to get to Tampa!

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  14. Love that picture of the crew!! Looks awesome.

    I can't believe that weirdo guy.

    So happy the leg is doing better!! YAY!

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  15. KC— I have thought a lot about this post. I think that this guy almost undoubtedly suffers from what people in the psychiatric community refer to as "severe assholeness induced by an overbearing mother and a father that expected far too much of his little leaguer" syndrome.

    Seriously, I see it all the time at my son's baseball games. I am his coach. He is nine. There are parents out there that act like it is the seventh game of the world series. This guy obviously has some sort of inferiority complex. I think J-man throwing up his fist is hysterical, but this d-bag is going to interpret it by going home, getting on his trainer, and looking to settle a score. Craziness.

    Glad your leg is feeling better. I test out my knee tomorrow!

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  16. KC - look how behind I am on blog reading. Glad you haven't been feeling it - then I don't look like an ass for not reading! :) I'm there too... don't worry!

    What a weirdo creep. I'm with the others... next time, don't be so nice!

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  17. Kc - it's Beth B.o.B. from DM. I didn't realize you had a blog. I'm an idiot. LOL! I too have a blog and we are both LOCAL! We must plan a meet up.

    BTW, I didn't see this crazy man at Suncoast but probably b/c he had zero interest in passing my slow ass. Heh.

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  18. I love that picture and the quote on it:)

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  19. That story is too much! Can you believe that guy? You guys are pretty too kind I'm sure he has encountered much meaner cyclists so I'm not sure why he would continue to do this. That is crazy yet a little funny, yes I laughed a little.

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