Actually, I was supposed to go tailgating with Erik, Bill, and Will at the Utes game yesterday. Unfortunately, I came down with a sinus infection right after Helena's birthday and wasn't willing to spend an entire day out in cold weather. So I stayed home while the boys went.
Today we went to Doril's Thanksgiving party. Doril is my Mother-in-Law. Bill is the 10th of 11 children, all of whom live close by (meaning that none of them are out of state). Most of his siblings had 6 children each. You can image how big these gathering could get. However, there are a lot of no shows these days. Most of Doril's grandchildren are now married, too, with children of their own. That makes it difficult for everyone to come to an additional gathering when there are so many other pulls and commitments during the holidays. We have tried to convince Doril that it is time for her to rest on her laurels and just allow us to take turns hosting her as our guest... to no avail. She doesn't do 'guest' well.
When we got home from the party, Bill wanted to go out again. I asked him where he was going, and he said 'to the bike store'. I thought he was after more parts for his bike, so I asked "Why?", just to harass him. I certainly wasn't expecting the answer, "To look at bikes for you!"
"Oh! Can I come?!?" I replied.
We went to Bill's favorite local bike store, the Bike Barn. It is owned by friends of ours. We were just going to look, but then we discovered that they were selling last year's rental bikes! For less than Bill thought he'd have to pay for my bike, we were able to get one for me and one for him, too! Mine's 'nicer', apparently, which bemused Bill. He is used to having the best bike in the garage, after all. His mountain bike is still top dog, though, so I don't think he really minds.
Bill is working on them now, making sure everything is working just perfectly and is adjusted just right. I am very happy, because I knew I'd have to get one in order to do longer triathlons. I used my mountain bike for the sprint triathlon and discovered that I didn't have enough gears. I had maxed out the gears and still had more ability to go faster, if only the bike was capable of it! This bike will allow me to do that. That will be especially important in an Ironman, where I'll need to maintain at least 20 mph for most of it in order to finish in a timely fashion. After all at 20 mph, it would take about 5 1/2 hours to complete that portion of the race (112 mi.)! I try not to think things like that because it feels so incredibly overwhelming to me. I try not to use the word 'impossible'.
Of course, I am still thinking as positively as possible, since I am still way off on my training routine. I am hoping that this will keep me motivated in my physical therapy so I CAN get back on track. I keep telling myself that when the weather turns nice again in the spring, my back will be better, too, and I'll be able to ride and run!
Now, you might be asking "Why didn't Bill surprise you with it under the Christmas tree?"
Because we never make big purchases without talking it out, first. While these were deeply discounted, being rentals, they still qualify as a 'big' purchase around here.
So, an early Merry Christmas! I guess I'd better get the tree decorated, eh?
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