I got to talk to an old friend from Kansas last night. We had a lot of catching up to do. She's married, and busy with babies and house buying and all that kind of really good life stuff. We had an easy conversation going until we got to my life and the stuff that's going on there. Then it took on sort of a Ripleys believe it or not quality.
"You were racing sea otters in Monterey?"
"No, no. I went to race called Sea Otter and did a cross country race on my mountain bike."
"You have a mountain bike?'
"I have two, actually. "
"Two? One for you and one for your husband?"
"Um, no. One is for cross country, and the other is for downhill racing."
"Oh."
pause
"So you race mountain bikes?!"
"Yes. Kind of. I mean I'm not that fast or anything, but I've done some races."
another pause
"You actually get on your bike and race. Like the Tour de France?"
"Um, no. That's road racing. That's different than mountain biking. Mountain biking is riding on the trails, in dirt."
"So you what? Like ride in the mountains? You actually race in the mountains? On your bike?"
"Well, yes. Sometimes."
another longer pause
"You didn't used to do that."
"Well, you know, Kansas isn't really a mecca of mountain biking. There's a lack of hills."
"Ooh. So it's a California thing."
(side note, to date being vegetarian, having my ears double pierced, and not having children has all been chalked up to being a "California" thing by my friends and family in Kansas.)
"So how was your marathon?"
" You mean triathlon?"
"Triathlon is the running race?"
"No, in triathlon you swim, bike and run."
"In one race!?"
"Yeah, one right after the other."
"And you do that too?"
"Yep."
"You race your bike in the mountains, and you do triathlons?!"
"Well, I'm not that good at it, but yeah."
"I thought you worked full time."
"I do."
Another pause, then
"No wonder you don't have any children yet."
d'oh! I knew I forgot to do something.
Hanging with the tri buds on a Monday swim in my not so normal life.
13 comments:
hahaaaa
great post!
great post!
ya don't expect any of those little buggers coming out of me either.
(I'm the black sheep out of the 30 grandchildren because I'm over 18 and don't have any kids.)
but I had an uncle who was a pro-cyclist in MX so at least I don't have to explain that to them...
Well maybe if having children was an olympic event or something, and you could get a water bottle or a tshirt. :P
I'm "normal" -- to a point that is. See Lizzie, I said you were the weird one, not me. If its any comfort to you, my friends in the Third World have referred to my lifestyle as "Very American." I asked them to explain this to me but it's too boring to post. Besides, its explained in Tagalog anyway. Reindeer ;)
Too funny! It's like Mondays at the water cooler...
Reindeer!
OH man....great post. So much like other conversations I have had! At least since I'm not married I dont get too many kids questions yet...
But heck...we're out there living life. Not that you have to tri to live life, but why not?
Oh, those crazy Californians!
Hey, hold on a sec. So what is "normal"? Now I'm kind of afraid to be labeled normal.
i think we've all had conversations like this
repeatedly
Judith sweetie-I would NEVER label you normal. :) Reindeer. :P
...great post -- actually, it's a Minneapolis thing (from the SoDak friends and relatives).
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