Back Home!

I am back home in Canada! Back home with The Nut and Mandalay -- life is truly so much better when you can grab a cat whenever you want to for a cuddle. :)

My flight arrived in Calgary at 10:00pm Friday, so I made arrangements for my Dad and I to stay at a motel -- I had to bring my bike in to Bowcycle the next morning for some serious TLC and to pick up a new helmet, new pink water bottles, and more gels.

Now before I left Cozumel, I kept joking that since I was now used to such heat and humidity, I was going to be such a cold weather weenie when I returned. Saturday morning I went for a run and was going to find out just how cold I would feel. I did have a long sleeve shirt in my luggage that I wore, but no capris or pants -- just shorts. 

I looked outside our motel room and saw bits of frost, but "bucked up" as my sister and Mom say and headed out. Oddly enough, immediately it was awesome. AWESOME. I was a little cold but man, the first word that sprung to mind was: relief . Hahahahahaah!

Everyday in Coz, the weather report would be:

• 27 degrees Celsius
• Relative humidity of 80%
• Feels like 37 degrees Celsius

Did you catch that last bullet point?

FEELS LIKE 37 DEGREES CELSIUS.

And it did.  Every day.  One day after I returned from a run, one of the security guards at our condo asked me if I jump in the ocean to swim and then run back.  Because I was always literally dripping wet.  Soaking wet.

Biking was the same way -- my cycling shoes would squelch with sweat and moisture. 

Mike and I would line up our shoes outside our condo rental, until the day that I lifted up my shoes and a million bugs (and all their friends) were having a party underneath and all around my sweaty shoes.  I felt so embarrassed.  But what do you do?  Nothing dries! 

My aero bar pads REEKED.  I'd always catch a whiff of BO and it was coming from them.  And they were ALWAYS wet.  Two black sponges that were probably swimming in all kinds of bacteria.  LOL.

The gentlemen at Bowcycle were awesome on Saturday!!!!!!!!

My left aero bar had indeed snapped off, so a new set of aero bars were in order.  My brakes were toast -- my rear one would lock tight against the wheel every time I would use it, so I had stopped using it.  My brake pads were worn out -- that  was from riding in traffic.  Stop and go, stop and go.  The last week in Cozumel, I just prayed the duct tape and avoiding shifting too much and braking would hold the bike together.  LMAO!

And I bought a new helmet too -- my old one had a crack in it and was bleached out by the sun.  It was yellow at one time, but now looks like something that you'd find in a garbage dump.

Same as my water bottles -- MAN!  The conditions are so harsh that it just destroys stuff.  The ink on my water bottles actually melted off.  MELTED off!  Like, how in the world is that even possible?  The ink came off in my hands!  The salt in the air, the scorching hot sun, the humidity -- it really kicks the crap out of clothing and equipment.

Speaking of clothing....

I am now a size small.  I have FOREVER been a size medium, but no more.   Unfortunately this means all my shorts are too big on me now.  My spandex shorts are baggy.  My race kit -- everything is too big on me now.  And when they get wet with sweat they hang off me.  And then the chafing/saddle sores begin.  So, I need new clothes!  My butt is smaller!!!!!!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I did try on a pair of Tyr tri shorts at Bowcycle on Saturday and while they felt amazing on, they looked absolutely terrible.  I could see my underwear THROUGH the front part!!  Quite clearly.  That's always a nice touch, eh?   No thanks.  $70 for a peep show -- and a gross one at that.  If you buy those shorts you better shave, and even if you do, if you have a freckle, the world will see it. 

Seriously, do these companies have a quality control department or a common sense department? 

It is great to be back home but I can't lie, Cozumel feels like home to me as well!  Mike and I made so many good friends there and it's just like a small town.  Just the way I like to roll.  We even started looking at property down there. 

I love Cozumel!  :)