"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Mark this day

Today I chick'd someone.

I am going to apologize right now to Calyx because I know she personally HATES this type of expression, but it is all for a good cause. Namely making me feel better about myself. :o)

Ever since I first heard this expression from JohnnyTri and Formulaic I was intrigued (and HIGHLY amused because it had happened to them) Apparently, men do not like to get passed by women. This is true on the bike, the run, or even the swim. It does not seem to matter if they are a good 75 pounds overweight and have been running or riding for 3 weeks and the woman is Paula Radcliffe, it makes them quite pissy and they will do everything in their power to repass said woman. If they get passed and subsequently dropped like a used condom they call it being 'chick'd.'

Now, I get chick'd, dude'd, and even little kid'd all the time, so it hardly phases me. But I am NEVER the chick-er.

Here my chick-ing story..

I went for a long ride with LA Run Buddy. Neither of us were feeling particularly inspired and started late, so pretty early on our planned 50 mile ride turned into a revised plan 30 mile ride. We rode in Woodside which is Hardcore Bicyclist Central for Northern California. So we were two of the handful of riders out there that were not in full cycling kits or riding bikes that cost more than my car. (FYI: 'kit' is the cool-kid name for their little matchy-matchy cycling outfits)

We were practicing major hill avoidance. This is as good as it gets in this area.

Anyhoo, back to the chick-ing. We are riding up a hill and I am in front because LA Run Buddy is much faster than me and she drops my ass if she leads, so I, being the lowest common denominator, usually set the pace. I am trying to push because I always feel like I am holding LA Run Buddy back and we come up on a fit looking guy on a nice bike. We pass him. I say good morning, he smiles and says good morning back (I know, he was nice, so telling this story is kind of mean, but it may never happen again)

About 10 minutes later we are on another climb (the one that turns into the big ass climb you see in the profile) and he re-passes us, and he is obviously working hard. He smiles. I smile. We all continue to climb, but pretty soon the hill starts to get to him and we pass him again. I say "Hello again!" He smiles back, but it is a little tighter this time. My legs were feeling pretty great so I kept pushing up the hill, when we turned up another hill we saw him still coming, but he never passed us again.

I am not an expert on such things, but I think this qualifies as having chick'd someone.


On another note. Here is a letter to two of our fellow Sunday morning cyclists:

Dear $6,000 Bike Riding, Wearers of Cycle Kits from a Team you PAY to be on:

I understand that you are entirely too cool to be bothered to say "on your left" as you pass the likes of me. And I realize that to you I am no more than a round, purple and pink annoyance on the road. But if you do choose to silently pass me, altogether too close I might add, please have the decency to not stop pedaling 10 feet in front of me, start riding two across with your buddy, and chatting about how small your penises are or whatever the fuck you were chatting about. Your half-ass pedaling and frequent coasting leaves me trapped behind your skinny asses constantly having to adjust my speed and thinking of ways to remove said tiny penises.

Sincerely,
The chick in purple and pink that held your wheel all the way back to town (even when you finally did try to drop her)

27 comments:

Drs. Cynthia and David said...

Very funny! I'm not surprised you are a chick'er. It's only right.

As for the fancy pants guys that planted themselves in front of you, maybe they thought you needed to draft? or that they were doing you a favor? Not sure about all the bicycle etiquette stuff, but drafting seems to be pretty mandatory in the Tour de France, though proper etiquette requires the chore be shared right? Watching the Tour makes me wish I rode too. It's been a long while since I biked, and with my klutziness i'd probably end up with lots more road rash than I would survive. You guys are brave!

IronSnoopy said...

We call it roadkill, but I think I like chick'd much, much better.

What is it called when said chickee keeps passing you after you pass him first, running as fast as he can, and then walking 50 yards ahead of you, wash, rinse, repeat a thousand times?

Congrats on chick'n! That's awesome! :)

Chris Barber, SeriousRunning.com said...

I didn't know there was a name for it but I hate being chick'd as well. This past 4th of July I found myself with some of the elite women at the beginning of the Peachtree Road Race. For the first mile I decided to pace off of an attractive female that was going pretty fast but she left me at about mile 1.5; I couldn't keep up. No other females passed me after that (plenty beat me but the field was cleared up by mile 1.5) until about mile 4.5 when a female passed me on a downhill. I re-passed her on the uphill to not be passed again. I was satisfied. I must not like being chick'd because I hadn't even trained for this race and I was taking being passed by females personally! Once I started way back in a race and didn't have a working watch so I used passing females to motivate me to continue to increase my race pace. Check it out:

http://www.seriousrunning.com/blog/events/techniques-to-run-your-maximum-pace/

Unknown said...

WoooHoooo!! Well done on the chicking.

BTW - I'b also been chihuahua'd. That's worse than being little kid'd.

Love the letter to the tricked out cyclists too. Ha!

Diana said...

I had the pleasure of chickin' a dude a few weeks ago. We were going up this what seemed to last forever hill to a freeway overpass and I thought to myself that there is no way this guy is going to beat me to the top...yup, passed his a$$ and with a big grin and inside chuckle, I easily (sort Of!) made it!!!

B.o.B. said...

had no idea they hated it so much. i am now obsessed with passing men. lol! good for you chicky. ;)

Lisa said...

Congrats on chick'ing that guy. He's probably home on his trainer right now trying to make sure it doesn't happen again. You're a motivator! ;-)

My husband did his first tri this weekend. He says that he didn't mind being chick'd as much as he hated being passed by old, fat guys.

Oh, and Lisa...I HATE being little kid'd. You really feel like you have to cheer them on (as they are our future), but inside you are annoyed by them.

RBR, I am glad you are getting your mojo back!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

i have a cyclist in my tri group that hates when I pass him, it makes me laugh. Well done on the chick'ing. Love the letter too. Very funny.

Sarah said...

Woot! I got old ladied a while back. I've been passed by everyone and their uncle. But man, when you pass a guy all kitted out on a nice ride, it does make ya feel good. That happened in my half ironman and I just grinned the whole way up the dang hill.

Love the letter. I hate that. And yes, I agree that he's probably out on his trainer right now figuring out where the breakdown was. ;)

Aileen said...

AHAHAHAAAAA! Kick ass! Here's to more chick'ng from you ;)

Lindy said...

Reminds me of this kid who tends to be out on the lakefront each day. He breaks into a sprint as soon as I close in on him, and as soon as he knows he can't keep it up any longer, he breaks right from the path and walks along the shoreline. Yeah kid, I see you...and you're not slick.

Herself, the GeekGirl said...

Oh. Whew! For a moment there, I thought you were talking about me. Then I saw the "skinny ass" part.

Regina said...

The one thing I hadn't counted on when deciding to get involved in triathlon, was the new extensive vocabulary I had to master. I thought I had left that behind in karate (can you say Mawashi Geri?).

Good on ya though for "Chick-ing" the guy. I had that happen on the run portion of my brick this past Saturday. It seemed he took it as such an affront to his manhood (as well he should considering how slow I run).

As a rule, I am anti kit. I think it's my NY attitude...I feel too cool to kit (even if it does seem to give you some street cred with the "boys" on the road).

Stef0115 said...

This is funny!

I don't like to get passed period. It totally blows. BUT I'm also used to it. Lol!

PunkRockRunner said...

This is officially my favorite post EVER!!

I was chick'd more times than Colonel Sanders at Death Ride and loved every second of it. Kick ass cyclists are kick ass cyclists.

So you know, the cycling shorts cause the "illusion" of a small peepee (kinda like cold water swims). That's what I tell the wife and I'm sticking with it.

Anytime you would like to ride or run I would be honored to be chick'd by you (just don't blog about it or at least change my name).

See you at the SFM!!

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

As long as I can out pace the ever increasing Pit Bull owners I see. (notice I said owners of the dogs not the dogs).

RBR, I would be proud to be chick'd by you. I am a dude (whatever that means), however, as I have mentioned in my blog - two sports running (endurance sports) and soccer far more impressed with the efforts of Women than Men in the US. While the best male athletes go unto football, baseball and basketball in the US - I think overall the best female athletes continue on with Soccer, Basketball, and endurance sports.

Lindsay said...

niiice on the chicking! totally counts, esp since he wasn't smiling so much anymore! a little salt in his wound :)

i've been little kid'd before. sucks! stupid children ;)

Jo Lynn said...

Power to the chicks in pink and purple!!! (holding up right fist)

Aron said...

YAY nice job on the chicking!!! :)

Irene said...

That's one pointy hill!

I'm glad someone else is using BiM, too. I feel like I'm the only one!

Oohhh... Chick'd is a new term for me. Never heard it but I like it. :) It seems like I'm little kid'd all the time, though.

Love the letter to the bike riders.

Klassenator said...

Nice work:) Entertaining story!

montisse98 said...

LOL --that letter was pretty funny!

kristen said...

I'm not surprised. Your working your ass off. It was bound to happen.

btw, did YOU write that letter? ;)Very funny!

Maryland Girl aka Michelle said...

Here's to chicking!! I don't think I've done it yet. A goal!

I found this article interesting on the junk in the trunk problem

https://www.enhancedfp.com/training/final-nail-cardio-coffin-rachel-cosgrove

I am 5'5", weigh about 158. I am 44. It has always been a constant battle, but even worse over 40. While going through divorce and being a couch potato I dropped 15 lbs just breathing. Since I've been running, tri training, eating healthy I've gained it all back. Since about February I have been at the gym 4 to 5 mornings a week working on strength and then added in May a 6 day a week tri training program on top of the gym. I have seen my % body fat go down a smidge, but my weight has not really budged at all. For several months I was on a strict 1500-1600 calories a day of healthy food. I've slacked off of that in the past month. I would like to see a bit more come down. I'd like to be in the 140's somewhere - less if possible. I am seeing more tone and muscle, but there is still way too much fat on this body... I wish you success! I think I will visiting a nutritionist. I want all this work to be showing on my body!!

Julia said...

Hi, I'm new to your blog; your blog name caught my eye! :)
I never knew the term Chick'd existed, but it made me laugh cause my boyfriend always gets so pissy when I finish first/stronger when we run together! haha!

Calyx Meredith said...

Well - it doesn't bother me so much when YOU say it. :D Congrats chicker!

Running 365 said...

This is so funny. I will never forget the first time I chick'd somebody. It was in a high school cross country meet and I ended up passing at least half of the opposing team's male portion. (In their defense, I'm no speed demon, they just sucked.)