Dear So and So

[Owlie]

Dear BF--
I love you dearly, but I do not have to do things the way that you think they should be done because that's the way you did them. By "things", I of course mean "anything related to my bike." I don't know if you know this, but the way you did it is not the only way to do it, and it may certainly not be the way that I should do things. I'm rather more risk-averse than you are, and in the long run, while clipless seems a bit scary, the prospect of using the toe cages that came with the bike scares me more. The only limiting factor here is money (mine) and the time to practice with the hypothetical new pedals. So, I'm taking myself over to the bike shop whether you like it or not. So there. :P

[bmccasland]

Dear Drivers out there...
Please let me get home safely from N. Alabama. I know you can't drive on icy roads, so just stay off them. I want out of here, and therefore that requires driving, tomorrow.

[copperlegend]

Dear Manager,

One day I will say no to working yet another weekend project. One day I will say no to a trip/project nobody else wants. One day I will refuse to 'put out another fire' when an incompetent co-worker FUBARs something up.

For now, I'll just remind myself I'm lucky to have a job at all.

Giving you fair warning,
over-worked systems engineer

[PinkBike]

Dear Tuesday,
Yesterday I paid a $181.50 fine from photo radar (my gps said i was going 75, AZ DOT said I was going 76, whoops);
then I find nobody ever processed my insurance payment I made over the phone on 12/31 - they claim no responsibility - I had to start over with a New Policy and it is now $152 more per year;
plus I get a rebate rejection for my cricket broadband mobile - they said i didnt send a receipt, i have proof i did, so the process starts over but wait! i never got this month's bill so i paid 1 day late so now my rebate is voided.
What a day.
Basically, 1 mph cost me $181.50, 1 day cost me $60 ($50 rebate + $10 late fee); 1 week (due 1/6, paid 1/12) cost me $152.
Now it's Wednesday and it's going to rain. I'm going back to bed.

[Catrin]

Dear concerned friend,

I know you are concerned about my well-being, but there is no need to continually warn me about the dangers of cycling at my age and acting shocked when you saw the bike rack on my car. I understand that you and your husband are totally against having a bike rack (though you no longer ride bicycles) but that is no reason to go ballistic on me when you saw mine. I am not your child, and you are certainly not in charge of my finances. Do you really think that all it will take to turn me against cycling is to tell me for the nth time about what can happen to a woman out on her own? What is up with that? I don't think that this has anything to do with me at all...

[Crankin]

Oy, Catrin, I would get rid of that friend. Anyone who thinks a 50 year old woman is old and shouldn't be doing something alone is nuts.
There.

[bmccasland]

Catrin - you keep ridin' girl! So long as your joints allow you. Riding is fun. Piffle on said "friend".

[Biciclista]

Dear Coworkers
I know that you are just trying to help, but suggesting that a cyclist riding in the rain
is doing a disservice to his children is a bit much. Every story you can tell me about cyclists getting killed by cars I can match with motorists killing themselves or other motorists with cars.
You're not helping. I'm not impressed. And i'm still going to ride my bike..

[crazycanuck]

Dear Uncle J,

Tonight I received news that you're not going to make it & are in very poor condition in hospital. I know you've battled Lupus for 20+yrs as a result of your time weapons testing in the military. You weened yourself off oxygen but then had to go back on a few years ago.

I will always remember your smile & the really bad humour

Thank you for being such a cool uncle. I'm happy we caught up on our trip to Canada in 08.

Your neice C

[Catrin]

Oy, Catrin, I would get rid of that friend. Anyone who thinks a 50 year old woman is old and shouldn't be doing something alone is nuts.
There.

Catrin - you keep ridin' girl! So long as your joints allow you. Riding is fun. Piffle on said "friend".

Sadly, that is pretty much what I have determined. We've been friends for years, but once I started taking my fitness, weight, and health seriously she, and a couple of others, have had this kind of reaction. Who would have thought? I have heard of men sometimes behaving this way to their wife or girlfriend out of insecurity, but this blind-sided me

So, I will continue to have fun - and every day that I work out, or play on my bike, the better and younger I feel, and better friends will be found along the way

[Catrin]

Dear Uncle J,

Tonight I received news that you're not going to make it & are in very poor condition in hospital. I know you've battled Lupus for 20+yrs as a result of your time weapons testing in the military. You weened yourself off oxygen but then had to go back on a few years ago.

I will always remember your smile & the really bad humour

Thank you for being such a cool uncle. I'm happy we caught up on our trip to Canada in 08.

Your neice C

I am sorry to read this, it is hard news for you and your family...Cool uncles are great and it is good that you will have good memories of him.

[Crankin]

Catrin,

This will happen more than you expect. Some women get very angry when they see someone else doing something for themselves. They are really angry at themselves, because they know what you are doing is right. I have a couple of friends who "tolerate" me and what they consider to be my eccentricities (exercising and eating right), but if I hear one more time that "I can't do what you do," I will scream.
You are now a member of a minority group. Seriously, I feel this way more and more. If it wasn't for my cycling friends, it would be awful.

[PamNY]

Catrin,

This will happen more than you expect. Some women get very angry when they see someone else doing something for themselves. They are really angry at themselves, because they know what you are doing is right. I have a couple of friends who "tolerate" me and what they consider to be my eccentricities (exercising and eating right), but if I hear one more time that "I can't do what you do," I will scream.
You are now a member of a minority group. Seriously, I feel this way more and more. If it wasn't for my cycling friends, it would be awful.

Crankin, do you really find this to be true? I find myself more and more isolated from certain people -- and yet all I'm doing is having fun on my bike! I'm not a super athlete; 40 miles is a big trip for me. The other things I do -- eating right, not drinking or smoking -- are just because I want to feel better and stronger. I'm truly not moralistic about any of this, and I don't like people who try to be the health police. But that doesn't seem to matter.

[HillSlugger]

Crankin, do you really find this to be true? I find myself more and more isolated from certain people -- and yet all I'm doing is having fun on my bike! I'm not a super athlete; 40 miles is a big trip for me. The other things I do -- eating right, not drinking or smoking -- are just because I want to feel better and stronger. I'm truly not moralistic about any of this, and I don't like people who try to be the health police. But that doesn't seem to matter.

Not with biking/fitness but several years ago I made a huge positive change in my life and my "friends" cut me out of the circle. I figure that means they really weren't my friends.

[Crankin]

Pam,
I wouldn't call myself a super athlete, either, in that I don't compete in any of the sports I do and as far as cycling goes, I am too slow to be with a fast group and too fast to be with a slow group...
I do really mean this. I just happen to be very disciplined and I have been since I started exercising in 1978. I don't *ever* talk about my "discipline," but when one of my non-exercising friends asks me what I'm doing/or did on the weekend or on one of my days off, I invariably will tell them, "Oh, I went snow shoeing, or I rode X number of miles." My life really does revolve around cycling and the winter sports I do. They don't want to hear about it. Sure, we go out to eat a lot, have a theatre subscription, watch an occasional movie. I read a lot, too. But, when it comes down to it, outdoor activity is my life. When I was a gym rat,it was "acceptable." That's what woman do; it didn't interfere with getting up early on a Sunday and going to hear a speaker at my synagogue, or doing volunteer work. That all went by the wayside when we both got into riding.
We spend a lot of time with another couple who ride, x country ski, and snow shoe with us. We go on vacation together and do the theatre thing together, too. I am doing what I want to do, also. I hate being socially isolated and I've always had an active social life. It's been a rare Saturday night that my DH and I have stayed home and we've been married 30 years. If people think that I am the "health police" by virtue of my lifestyle, well, I guess they will think it. I've talked about this with others in my cycling group, who are all older than 40 and have lived this lifestyle for many years. I couldn't begin to approximate some of the stuff they do, but I understand it and only give them kudos. But frankly, I have found that people, especially women, view this as being selfish, when it really is self care.