ALC5 Cyclist Gary Cotti: I fell off my bike, in a dress

First, thanks for all your comments! I totally don't have time to respond and start a discussion thread, but they are appreciated.

So out of all the emotions one can and will experiences on LifeCycle, one that eventually happens is a “hmmm…I’m not feeling exactly 100% peppy” feeling. It happens, we’re exhausted from riding, sleeping well one night and poorly the next, and no matter how much we take care of our bodies, if we miss a cookie or one bottle of Gatorade, there is a good chance one of us will get cranky.

Today was my day.

To start, actually, I had a wonderful breakfast with fellow blogger Jon Garrison and his “new tentmate” Mike (who I keep calling Steve*) Jon and I have been getting along famously as we usually end up in the blogging tent (also known as the “you can’t check your email tent”) at the end of the night at the same time, both frazzled from the road and typically annoy everyone else in the tent with our “wacky antics.” Jon, Mike (Steve?) and I actually were discussing this morning, growing up and being how we were educated in school and growing up about HIV and AIDS, and we all sort of shared our experiences. I’m really glad I met Jon on this ride, you can check is blog out here, and learn more about him if you haven’t already. Plus he laughs at most everything I say, so that scores him major points.

So, great breakfast, then everything sort of fell apart for me. Today is “Red Dress Day” where everyone dresses in red dresses, it came about as “Dress In Red Day” as there is a part on the route where the road loops and if everyone is wearing red, it looks like a ribbon. But then, well, it sort of morphed and now it’s “Red Dress Day” So everyone is having a good time getting dressed and laughing and frankly, I just wanted to get on my bike. My head was congested again, I ran out of decongestant, and that meant I had to make a stop at the drug store or wait until I got the the next rest stop to talk to someone at Medical. So there was stuff to do. And it was cold this morning. And I was wearing a dress. Real cold. Shivery. Here's me and James in our regalia:

Oh, and my legs are really sore today. I’ve been riding a lot. So today I rode real slow.

In the mornings, riders pass me and they say “Good morning! On your left!” Typically when people pass me, I ring the bell on my bike and smile, or say “thank you” to acknowledge that they are passing. I might even say something funny or “Go rider!” to cheer someone on. Today a lot of people were passing me. Quickly. In groups. So I heard “on your left” a lot, and frankly I just wanted quiet. Then it sort of turned in to this.

“On your left!”
[ding ding]
“On your left!”
“Thank you”
“On your left!”
“Okay…”
“On your left!”
“I know.”
“On your left!”
“I…..KNOW”
“On your left!”
“STOP TALKING TO ME!”
“On your left!”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!”
“On your left!”
“ON YOUR LEFT!”
“On your left!”
“[grumble]…so’s your face.”
“What?”
“….”

So I certainly realized that I needed some sugar, I was mad for not planning accordingly. At rest stop 1, I sort of “half jokingly” and “mostly seriously” unloaded in front of Jon and yelled “I’M TIRED! I’VE RIDDEN 6,000,000 MILES, MY BUTT HURTS! THERE ARE HILLS! I’M IN A DRESS AND I WANT A COOKIE!”

Jon thought this was hilarious, and then, out of nowhere, and I’m not kidding you, a stranger came up to me, a fellow rider and handed me a box of Chips Ahoy and said “be careful what you wish for.”

Then I felt a like a total idiot, and Jon thought that was even funnier.

The route today was short, it was a low milage day, about 43.7 miles, so I was in by 3pm (exactly when the route closed) and it was ALL HILLS, up and down very steep climbs. It hurt. This did not improve my mood. So I just kept quiet, in the red Liz Claiborne dress I bought yesterday for $5 at the Cayuses Gift N Thrift on yesterday’s ride. Just kept quiet, to get through it, early day at camp. Then on a long steep pitch, I got sunscreen in my eye and had to stop and pour water on it so I could keep riding. After pushing my bike a few feet, I was ready to go up again, clipped in to my bike, and the hill was too steep to start, and I fell off my bike, and then backwards down the legde. In a dress. It was actually a little dangerous and I’m sure you could hear the expletives coming out of my mouth for miles.

But the first thing I saw when I got up was the hand of another rider. Tim, I believe from Dallas, TX* Helped me back up over the ledge, told me to shake it off, offered advice on how to start on steep hills, and in less than five minutes I was back up. So there you have it, if you are having a bad day on The Ride, you can pretty much count on the spirit of others around you to keep you going.

Tonight in camp is our Talent Show, and dinner is very soon. I’ll wrap it up with this, I think mostly I was in a cranky mood this morning because I know that its back to reality soon, and this one extraordinary week, meeting some of the most wonderful people I’ll ever meet is quickly coming to an end. I’m not sure if I’m ready.

Goodnight from Lompoc, CA

Days remaining: 2
Miles to Los Angeles: 144ish
Legs: Cement

*Meeting people on The Ride is easy. Remembering them the next day and their names is very difficult. We have 1800 riders and 400 roadies/support staff. When you meet someone on the road they have a helmet and sunglasses on. If you meet them in camp, they look totally different on the road. THEN if they have a different cycling jersey on the next day, you might as well just forget it and reintroduce yourself. Most riders understand this phenomenon.