bike rides, bike crashes, and friggin' agates

Last Thursday was a good day... I crossed the 1000 mile mark on my bicycle. Yes, I have pedaled my bicycle now more than 1000 miles (or 5,280,000 feet or 63,360,000 inches or 1,609,344,000 millimeters) since I bought it back in March. I averaged 12.4 miles per hour during my first 1000 miles which comes to about 80 hours sitting on that piece of leather they call a bike seat/saddle. On this very exciting day, I decided that I had not had quite enough fun being as psychotic as I am so I decided to go for a run. I ran maniacally fast and crossed 2 miles in under 12 minutes for the first time in my life! Woohoo!!! I am getting faster.

Three weeks ago Tuesday was not so good a day... I had been watching a lot of Tour de France on t.v. and thought I was Lance Armstrong when I set out with Grant up the Capital Crescent Trail to Bethesda on my trusty bicycle. It was wet out on the trail and we were pedaling hard. I feel like you know where this story is going. As a side note, I should mention that Grant is a maniac (especially on his bicycle) and had been in a bike wreck less than two weeks before this day. To make a long story short, I was following Grant pretty closely traveling around 20 m.p.h. when he went to pass two runners on the trail. I am not sure if he is blind or what but there were bikers coming the other way and no room to pass so he slammed on his brakes and his bike spun out. I slammed on my brakes as well - a little too late under the wet conditions - but Grant and the two runners were in the way and I wound up superman'ed on the pavement at 20 m.p.h. The injuries were brutal but minor considering how hard I crashed. A strawberry on my right side that swelled to the size a of a nerf football, road-rash that made a disgusting scab on my right forearm, some gaping flesh wounds to the right hand, and some gravel impaled in the fingertips that Challice and I were still picking out a week later. Three weeks later and I still have a huge nasty scar on my forearm from the road-rash that is not going to go away for a long time but everything else is pretty much finally healed. Needless to say I hate Grant! I happened to crash on the same day that the leader of the free world George W. Bush crashed into a police officer while riding his mountain bike in Scotland and sustained minor injuries to his hands and arms that were bandaged at a local hospital. On this very day the Ameircan David Zabriskie leading the Tour de France in the yellow jersey crashed at over 30 m.p.h. destroying his yellow jersey and sustaining injuries for which he would later drop out of the race. Maybe we should all stick to a sport with a little less contact... perhaps checkers!

Other than that, running has been going well. I went out on a crazy loop through the national zoo last week that was pretty hilly and fun (if you call running up small mountains in 100 degree heat fun). I ran 2 miles in 11:40 yesterday. Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far with a heat index in the mid 110's. I think I'll stay inside and eat popsicles today!!! I take off for San Francisco tomorrow and am bringing my running shoes so maybe will get to trek over some of SF's beautiful scenery and obscence hills in between some major debauchery. I can't wait!

"My wife's a pain in the ass. She's always busting my friggin' agates. My daughter's married to a real loser bastard. And I got a rash so bad on my ass, I can't even sit down. But you know me. I can't complain."