6 things you find everywhere when you're a cyclist
Moving is awful. No matter how you do it. I always get to that “okay, this is the last box” point only to open a drawer and realize I forgot all my kitchen utensils and have to make another trip. As anyone that has moved can attest, it sucks. Particularly challenging is going through all your stuff and deciding, is this worth packing, moving, and unpacking? I find that about 30% of my stuff is not worth the move and gets donated, but those judgment calls can be hard to make. I kept getting questions from my helpers— “do you need this race number? Should I put this safety pin with the others? Oh, here’s another water bottle.” While mildly irritating at the time, looking back on it now, the amount of Cycling specific stuff that was laying around my apartment was actually really funny, and I’m sure a lot of you will find commonality. For the record, I am BLESSED to have the amazing friends and family that both helped me move, and put up with the hot mess I was during the process. PLUS the super success of the weekend was that I managed to stay on top of my training and nutrition, and even had time to do this awesome photo shoot with Adam Robinson (hence the cool photo at the top).
Here I present you with a list of the bike things I found stashed in the dark corners of my place during my move. Almost all of these objects seem to be things that are around in abudance when you don't need them, and conveniently missing when you do. After more or less having three cyclists living in a very small apartment, these objects were somewhat comically found lurking in every oriface of our previous abode. My dad actually laughed out loud when he saw the number of presta valve caps under my couch cushions. So here it is: the list of sh*t cyclists will have everywhere where they don't need it, and no where when they do.
1. Safety Pins. EVERYWHERE. These are the top of the list FOR. A. REASON. I think they are actually haunting me. They're behind every corner and under every mattress. In the couch cushions? Check. In my car seat? Check. Bottom of the washing machine? Check. Base board of my undies drawer? You already know. I'm surprised I haven't inadvertently eaten one yet (although, I wouldnd't rule it out). These cruel things hide in the most inconvenient places, yet are no where to be found when you need a number pinned before Tuesday Night Worlds. Be warned safety pins, I'm onto you.
2. Race Numbers. Did you know there's athletes out there that are diligent enough to scrapbook all their race numbers? I think it's mostly runners, because as a cyclist I'm not sure you could buy a scrapbook big enough, but I'm the polar opposite. No matter how hard I try to NOT keep race numbers they seem to find their way everywhere but the trash. I think I have thrown away more than 10 Tour of Saint Louis numbers over the course of this move. For the record, I've only done this race twice. That's four numbers max. Where do they all come from? Race advertising conspiracy by Mike Weiss perhaps?
3. Gel packets. Opened, unopened, half-used, they're all over the place. I have a solid theory on this one though: gel is placed in jersey pocket pre-ride, gel is opened and (perhaps partially) consumed on ride, wrappers are placed back in pocket, sticky residue causes them to stick to the pocket lining and go unseen into the washing machine. From there, the parasites have free reign to stick to or get caught in any number of clothing pieces. As for the unopened ones? Maybe I'm not as careful as I think I am about cleaning out my jersey pockets. So far, I've been succesfully able to wash unused Gel's without one exploding, but it's not a question of if I lose this game of Russian Roulette, it's when. And as I understand it's not going to be pretty.
4. Presta valve caps and rings. Serious question, why do companies still put these on new tubes? I've never seen them used for anything beyond trash and small things for my cats to chase around the living room floor.
5. Bottles. I wish I had video of the snarky comments my dad made about my bottle collection. They do seem to get everywhere, on my desk at work, in the trunk of my car, on my nightstand and dresser-- its quite possible that I had more than one box filled to the brim. But hey, if you've ever tried to supply a feed zone for an eight woman composite squad at a four day stage race you'd hoard bottles too, right?! Probably the worst part about this one is that I really only use about 10 percent of the whole hoard.
6. Trainer skewers. I've only ever bought two trainer skewers, but I think I have at least 4 in my toolbox right now. Trainer skewers are absolutely there when you don't need them and gone when you do. I'm guessing my collection has come from many "gone when you need them" moments at races where I desperately borrow a friend's to warm up. I'm also guessing a lot of my teammates find themselves in the desperate where the heck is my trainer skewer battle after racing with me, so... to quote some epic 90's rap "Hey, Teammie, Baby I got your skewers, don't you worry."
As a quick look forward, the first race of the season is coming up fast! February 16 I'll hit the TT course for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Pheonix, and then I'll hang out and train in Pheonix and Tucson until the 27th. I'll stop in St. Louis for a quick respit then I'm off to Florida March 2 -11 for team camp and the Pan Florida Challenge!
I'm getting back into the swing of regular life now that moving is over, and I'm working on some A-1 posts about our 2018 team equipment, yoga, and getting ladies on bikes. So stay tuned! Good content coming your way.