karen’s Friends

Gear?

nobody@vox.com(Venus) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:47:46 -0700

So, I've signed up for this bike tour of Manitoulin Island in August. 30-50 kms a day, I'm told. And, I'm told I have to "get ready" for this. OK. I'm up for it.

The list of things to pack has arrived and it refers to "gear". My bike has gears on it, but I don't think this is what they mean. I have a helmet. Is there more? Yes, apparently. I need:

gloves
special pants (two pair)
special shirts (UV protective, wicking moisture away, etc.)
all-weather gear
maybe special shoes

It wasn't this complicated when I was 10 and biking about 7 kms (one way) a day back and forth to the local pool. I had a bathing suit and a towel. I may have been wearing shoes on occasion. I gather this is a bit of a different kettle of fish.

I like the idea of the gloves, which I've been meaning to get anyway because I can use them in my circuit training several times a week. But the bike pants? I've seen people wearing these pants and they look all athletic and muscular and really rather intimidating in them. The bike shop I'm loyal to (an independent) is a pretty messy, testosterone-laden place and, no, they don't have a change room for me to try on the impossibly small-looking "women's" bike pants, obviously erroneously labeled "L" for "Large". I can't imagine these fitting over one leg never mind hauling up to my waist.

Yet, I'm being asked to pay an outrageous sum of money for this scrap of nylon with a diaper implant. Without even trying the item on. The shop owner assures me that I can return them if they don't fit. As long as the labels are intact. He holds his hand out for my credit card and taps his foot impatiently. Or at least I imagine that is what he is doing. I can't really tell because there is a display counter filled with "bike gear" between me and him.

Happily, my weighing-in place is four doors down from my bike shop, and they graciously allow me to use their washroom to try these special diaper pants on. Quickly, I am put in mind of the situation a few months ago in which I purchased a dress for the first time in 25 years and, yes, pantyhose. I bought three pair of nylons knowing full well that I would blow through at least one pair just in the attempt to put them on. And I was right. Here I was again, dragging what seem to be highly fragile fibres across the resistant flesh on my legs and hips, mumbling a variety of obscenities and being absolutely certain that my fingers are going to rip right through this thin material any second in my strain to get these things covering all the bits they are supposed to cover.

To my complete and utter amazement, they fit, sort of. They look silly as hell, and I feel like I'm wearing Depends, but I got the damn things on. I do not look muscular, athletic or intimidating ... but I am a work in progress.

Do I really need them? Do I really need special shoes? And those clippy things? Really?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Why Isn't This Man Running For President?

nobody@vox.com(Venus) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:42:42 -0700

Borrowed from Red Pen ... Al Gore speaks on climate change and carbon-based fuels.

Quote:
We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend