Taper Time

I'm officially in my taper zone for Lake Placid. It's early, too. As of June 30th, with the race still three weeks away, I found myself officially winding my training down...

..with a hilly ride of about 1:45. A seemingly minor detour (closing just about 1/4 mile of road on 146) forced me to ride all over the place, before coming home and calling the Branford Police. Someone had thrown a bottle at me and I might have let it go, but another car followed the first one, got a license plate number and then brought it back to me, so I felt obiliged.

By the time I was done mowing my lawn, the police had dealt with the situation- apparently the teen's grandmother was driving the car, and he's on probation, so...

I really hesitated to make that call, but with someone else bring the number back to me, I felt compelled. I also had more than an hour to think about it while I was riding, and the bottom line is that's the sort of thing that could cause a rider to swerve and possibly go off the road. It didn't phase me, but there's a difference between when you are just being a jerk and littering and when you are throwing a bottle at someone and then yelling at them.

I have to say this is one thing that after years of running and riding, I still don't get. What is the jollies that people get from harassing people while they are working out is beyond me. Eric wrote about it on his blog and the truth is for the most part, it's just funny. 90% of it is harmless and inane. But the other ten percent ? This bottle-throwing incident, the time a guy chased after me with a tire iron, and the guy who threatened to shoot me in the back.

Yes, shoot me. In the back.

It's taper time. I had a swim lesson yesterday, and today I went to the pool and practiced. I swam 25 yards. Stopped. Thought about what my coach was telling me, and tried doing it. Swam 25 more. Stopped again. In 25s and 50s, just trying to get it right...

Taper time. Just please, no more tire irons, no more guns, no more bottles...