Completely Obsessed

(Basically the point of this post is to prove to myself and both of you who read this that I am hardcore...if that kind of vanity upsets you, please skip reading this)

I spent last week in Seattle for a school research conference. I was there Tuesday to Saturday.

I got to see my mom and dad which was really nice.

I got to learn a lot about science and stuff. That was really nice too.

I didn't get to ride my bike every day. That wasn't very nice.

I did get to rent a sweet mountain bike and ride one evening after the conference was over. I pretty much warmed up for 30 minutes, rode my brains for 30 minutes, then cooled down for 30 minutes, somehow hoping it would make up for the 3 days off I was forced to take this week. That was kinda nice.

I missed a couple of races that week because of the conference. That wasn't very nice at all.

However, it's never done any good to complain, whine, or otherwise lament things you can't change. So I just accepted the fact that I was going to miss a few races (one of them being the Intermountain Cup race at Sundance....missing that=not very bloody nice one frickin' bit)

As I got home Saturday evening, having been off the bike for 2 days straight, I promptly turned on my computer, started up iTunes, and started packing my little shuffle full of songs to take me around the alpine loop. Never mind it was 9:00 pm. Never mind it looked like a bit of rain might kiss the valley. Never mind all I had eaten was some airplane biscott and a Fresca. I was going.

While my computer was on, a friend started chatting with me. They asked how my week was and how my races went. I explained that I had been in Seattle all week for school stuff and hadn't gotten a chance to ride much, let alone race.

"Oh good" my friend replied, "if you can miss races like that, it shows you aren't completely obsessed"

"Sure" I typed back. "I'm not completely obsessed"

I almost took it as an insult.

I figured it would just be best to leave it at that and not mention how I sleep with my bikes in my room, how I make social plans around training, how I've skipped major family events for races, or even how I actually feel dirty when I'm forced to skip a day of riding....

Oh, yeah, sure....I'm not obsessed at all