Baby, It's Hot

It's hot here in Kansas City. Not just warm, humid, muggy or sticky, but HOT. Hairdryer-hot. Warm- washcloth-on-your-face hot. Difficult-to-breath hot. Despite this heat, my friends and I attempted to go biking on Monday. We are training for the MS-150 bike ride in Missouri. We decided to take some trails to avoid the crazy-from-the-heat drivers - who wants to be a statistic?

Anyway, my friend S. has never worn a helmet, despite our warnings and reminders. She also does not own bike shorts or, actually, a bike. Nonetheless, she wants to join us on the MS-150. I loaned her my hybrid bike and a pair of shorts for our Monday adventure. Immediately after donning the shorts, she stared incredulously at the mirror. "I feel like Debbie from Singles," she said. "Do people really wear these things?"

So off we went on the trail. S., who has recently become a workout goddess, had forgotten we were biking that night and had already run five miles in the morning. We became hopeless lost on the trail system, having foolishly believed it went in a circle. After a frustrating half-hour, we realized we were around 15 miles away from where we wanted to be.

Frantically biking back, we heard a scream. L. and I turned around just in time to see S.'s head bouncing erratically through the woods, complete with I'm-an-idiot-but-still-scared sound effects. Apparently S., getting tired after her Ironman workout for the day, had missed a turn and barrelled straight into the woods alongside the path. She fell with a thump and her head disappeared. I think I may have actually wet myself laughing.