Out for Delivery

Always a welcome message when checking the UPS tracking site. Like Christmas morning, I get all giddy and excited for my latest goodies to arrive whenever I see that my stuff is "out for delivery". So I should have my grips, a nicely cleaned and adjusted bike now it all comes down to the packing. I think layers are going to be the theme for Saturday with temps ranging between 30 and 55 degrees during the race. I know it is sacrilege for us desert denizens to wish for no rain and I don't really, but I hope the rain either comes early or holds off until Saturday night/Sunday.

It is a good thing that today is my last work day this week. Last night on my ride home I was almost taken out by a kid pulling out of a parking lot. He looked directly at me but still nearly plowed into me as I went by him, it refreshed my memory that even though they are looking at you they aren't neccessarily seeing you. Close one that was.

Then this morning I had a run in with another driver. Two in less than two days is not a good omen.

So this morning, less than a half mile from the house, I'm approaching an intersection where I need to turn left. It has a left hand turn lane and the light is red so I diligently look to my left and rear, there is a grey van about 100 yards behind me so I signal my intentions and begin to move over into the turn lane when Mr. Blue Shirt in said van quite unnecessarily voices is displeasure at my maneuver and lays on his horn. Startled and completely taken by surprise I reacted, without thinking, with a single digit wave of my own (my bad) but truly the horn was simply gratuitous. Then as the corpulent swine passed me, after we both made our left hand turns, I couldn't help but stare him down and mouth what I had visually indicated with my upraised finger just moments earlier. What a fatherless, rattus (rat bastard).

I did enjoy the rest of ride though. Having pushed it hard again on the way home last night and in anticipation of this afternoon's forecasted winds (20-30 with 45 mph gusts), I just spun an easy gear helped along by a slight northerly breeze.