Monday, October 5, 2009

Right Hand/Left Foot

I finally figured out my cyclocross conundrum this Sunday. I've been having trouble learning how to dismount, and I finally discovered why.

I've always known that for things like surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding, I favor my left foot- I'm "goofy footed." It's weird because I'm right handed. Apparently, 95% of people who are right handed are right footed. Not me! I'm in that little 5% block, and it throws off riding, apparently.

I thought about it the other day, and remembered trying to mimic Dad getting off the bike, and falling over. Then, I saw Robbie get off the bike and realized I was doing the opposite thing that he was.

So, instead of dismounting so I can pick up the bike on the non-chain side, I decided to let my body do the talking and decide how it wanted to dismount. Nice, smooth, and fast: on the chain side. Try to do it the right way and wobble wobble fall! Tried it a bunch of times and even though I didn't have barriers, I was practicing running and jumping. And it went really well!

So, I'm goofy. And I'll have chain marks everywhere by the end of the season. The point is, I can dismount!

This weekend, Dad and I are rigging a CX course in the backyard. Awesome!!

I also made friends with the little 6 year old girl living next door and spent an hour playing outside with her after practicing cross. Running, cartwheeling, tree-climbing, and pushing her in her out of battery Barbie jeep made for an awesome workout, albeit a weird one- I'm sore all over from it!

In very sad news, my 12 year old rabbit, Carl, finally passed away. He lived twice as long as most rabbits, and he was awesome. Robbie and I both really loved him, and so did my dog. I think my dad even teared up a bit when we buried him- he gave a little eulogy and everything. So, RIP Carl, aka Carrie (we may have given him some gender issues as a bunny.)

Here's us a couple years ago:
And with the dog... see, she likes him!

1 comment:

Missy said...

Oh, I'm sorry, the loss of a pet blows. It's always just hard to deal with. They're part of the family.