Dear So and So

[Brandy]

Dear people with firecrackers and fireworks in Huntington Beach,

It's not 4th of July yet. They're banned here. You're freaking my dog out. You suck.

Love,

grumpy lady on the corner

[arnaew]

Dear Jan,
Since I first started watching the TDF (1998) I have admired you. You live this crazy lifestyle, where during the off season you enjoy your food, your wine, your child and whatever else is going. Then you get back on the bike, and just grind out the miles getting ready for the Giro and the TDF. And you get there. Last year I saw you in France; I saw you standing on the podium and (in the privacy of this forum) while I admired what you had done thus far in the TDF, for the first time, looking at you standing so tall in your T-Mobile strip, I had thoughts unbecoming to a 50 year old lady (whose children were standing nearby). Jan, I am devastated from every angle; professionally, sportingly (is that a word?), as a fan, as an admirer, as someone who looked up to you. Say it ain't so, Jan, say it ain't so.
A

[kiwi in oz]

Dear employment agency, research centre and human research ethics board,

Thanks for approving my research proposal, for finding me the perfect job, and for the part time research work. I really appreciate it after being in a foreign land for the past 6 months trying to sort all this stuff out. Thanks for approving everything - and pressuring me to start everything RIGHT NOW - three weeks before I go home to visit my father who has cancer - and the week I am dealing with separating from my partner - the man who might just be the reason I am not in my home country. Maybe I should be thanking you all for giving me plenty of distractions?

Thanks,

A (who is hoping she may at least get stress-skinny out of this!).

[emily_in_nc]

Dear UPS Driver,

Why did you put in the tracking information for my Titus Racer-X mountain bike that was due to be delivered this past Friday that "recipient was not available to sign for package, will try again Monday"? My husband was at home all day! Did you perhaps want to start your fourth of July holiday a bit early? The bike was one hour away from my house at the UPS distribution center at 2 pm on Thursday, so why oh why do I have to wait until Monday to get it?

Don't you know how women get when we are awaiting the delivery of a bike?? And are pre-menstrual to boot?!

Sincerely,
An anxious customer

P.S. Don't let this happen again.

[MomOnBike]

Dear Lemonaide Stand Kids:

Thank you for setting up your stands near the middle of hills. Thank you for being so earnest and careful making change. Thank you for making good COLD lemonaide.

You are one of the few good things about summer riding.

[Lise]

Dear Decision Makers of Lake Zurich, Illinois:

BLECH! Again I say to you: Blech! I stamp my feet at you! I make mad faces! Also ARGH!!!

I love the Lake Zurich Triathlon that is held in your little town every August! It is the focal point of my training! This year I was going to get to do it withOUT my dear friends (whom I love a lot but who can't be bothered to train yet want to do a triathlon so I end up waiting for them in every transition so we can finish together)!

I've been checking the tri's website diligently for on-line registration. I was not freaked out that it wasn't up yet, this is not a fancy tri, so the website isn't always up to date. But today it says "2006 Race Cancelled Due To Road Construction". This stinks! I'm sure our tri is low on your priority list. Maybe it's not even anybody in Lake Zurich who makes these decisions. Maybe I should be stamping my foot and making mad faces at the Great State of Illinois and their Dept of Trans.

I am very disappointed. I will take my tri-butt north of the border and do the Pleasant Prairie Tri the next weekend in Wisconsin. I will be back to do your tri in 2007. The roads had better be FABULOUS!!!

Disappointedly yours,

L.

[Nanci]

Dear _my_ UPS guy-

Unlike the other one, thank you for telling me exactly when my new bike, Lava, would arrive from far away California last summer. Thank you for offering to put her in the shed for me if I wasn't home so she would be safe. Thank you for always being friendly, and interested in my rides, and always looking out for my packages. I miss you when you're not on my route for a while.

Nanci

[fixedgeargirl]

Dear Little Hometown in the Mountains,

I miss you so much that I cry. Especially this time of year. I'll sure be thinking of you tomorrow as I miss yet another fabulous Fourth complete with log sawing competitions and street dancing and the water fight down by 2nd Street. Sure, I'll see you for a couple of weeks at the end of the month, but that just ain't enough. Tell everybody there to pray to the spirit of their choice that DS and I will be able to live there again sooner than later.

Broken Hearted ,

fixedgeargirl

[Lise]

Dear Little Hometown in the Mountains,

I miss you so much that I cry. Especially this time of year. I'll sure be thinking of you tomorrow as I miss yet another fabulous Fourth complete with log sawing competitions and street dancing and the water fight down by 2nd Street. Sure, I'll see you for a couple of weeks at the end of the month, but that just ain't enough. Tell everybody there to pray to the spirit of their choice that DS and I will be able to live there again sooner than later.

Broken Hearted ,

fixedgeargirl

Awww...I hear you. I hope you get home soon. L.

[Brandy]

Dear early mornings,

You're my new favorite time to ride! The sights, the smells, the periods of silence on a normally busy path and streets. I'll gladly start going to bed early so I can experience you more often.

Love,

up before dawn

[Bad JuJu]

Dear early mornings,

You're my new favorite time to ride! The sights, the smells, the periods of silence on a normally busy path and streets. I'll gladly start going to bed early so I can experience you more often.

Love,

up before dawn

I hear ya, Brandy! Yesterday for some reason I slept until 7, didn't get on the bike until 8, and thought I would die with the heat and humidity, plus the freakin' traffic. Normally, though, I'm up and out before any of that gets going. Let's hear it for early morning rides!

--Up before dawn, only on the Gulf Coast

[Tater]

Dear Lady in the pickup on 27th Street:

Thank-you for not right hooking me at the light this morning. I wasn't expecting a motorist to wait for me after the signal turned green, to clear the intersection before making a right hand turn. Usually four wheelers just haul azz like we bikers don't exist. Thanks for reinforcing my belief that this town is a pretty cool place to ride.

The commuter on the red bike

[Aggie_Ama]

Dear Upstairs Neighbor,

I have patiently put up with your running up your stairs, loud music, the bass in your car, the high schoolers you hang out with and your strange habit of vaccuuming several times a week in the middle of the night (yes, we can hear that).

I cannot tolerate you leaving your dog on your patio. In case you are new to the area, it gets REALLY HOT in Texas in July. Last time I checked pugs do not tolerate heat well. I hope the little guy have a nicknamed Pugsly has water. I have tried to discuss this with you, but your lack of compassion makes it hard.

Since DH will not let me dognap Pugsly and I know our apartment complex will do nothing, I will call the local animal control next time he is left out. Your stupid excuses annoy me:
a) forgot him b) was having the carpet cleaned (2 weeks) c) he likes the fresh air.

Concerned about little "Pugsly",
Your Dog Loving Neighbor

[Brandy]

Dear self,

Go to bed early tonight so you can meet Tiffanie at 5:00 a.m.!!!!

Love,

Me

[Tiffanie]

Dear self,

Go to bed early tonight so you can meet Tiffanie at 5:00 a.m.!!!!

Love,

Me