Thursday, May 29, 2008

I just got caught in the sand

I suppose a comment like this made by a cyclo-cross racer is not terribly extraordinary, but what i meant by this was not quite what you think! It sanded on me - on my head! It literally rained sand.

Apparently our funky weather (hot, muggy, cold, overcast, sunny, almost-rain) is coming from the Sahara Desert and brought with it a bunch of yellow-orange rusty-colored sand that was deposited on top of us. That explains why i have been picking grains of sand out of my head for the past hour.

In a few minutes, i'm back out the house for motorpacing. Keeping the mouth shut may be a good idea to save my teeth from the shooting sand pebbles that will inevitably be coming my way from the scooter wheel.

To get motivated for my ride, i'm watching tour of belgium on the TV. There were already two crashes in the ten minutes i've been sitting here. It looks like they were hit with the rain/sand as well. I just caught a glimpse of Stijn Devolder who clearly lost a bunch of weight for this race. According to a recent interview, he's been routinely checking out the stages during the weeks leading up to the event. He added that he planned to lose 4kg to be best prepared for the race.

And after my ride - of course after i've eaten, elevated the legs, stretched, etc - I'm gonna check out a criterium race live in Zaventem.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha sand in the rain! Living directly North of the Sahara a nice sandy layer covering the car in the morning isn't uncommon! Of course the other kind of 'getting caught in the sand' wouldn't apply to you anyway... you just float over :)

Enjoy the motor pacing and watch your eyes too from the sand! Oh and have a great time watching the crit later!

CT


PS those waffles look lovely... time to buy me a waffle iron!

Rickie Rainwater said...

Hey American Girl,
Remember the dust bowl, or at least the history of it? Washington DC had to close their windows just to keep the Oklahoma dust out. I don't know if the thunderstorms are as bad there in belgium, but they are also known for picking up large amounts of debre. I hope you have a trusty partner motor pacing for you, and watch those break lights! The beans came out really good, and I will try your last "cooking tip" tonight. I just had an apple, some oatmeal with bananas chopped up with the oatmeal for breakfast, some vitamin water and my bike tires are pumped up. Might relax a little before my long ride this morning. Thanks for the post.
rickie

Rickie Rainwater said...

Just burned 2097 calories. But,no dirt in my teeth. I wonder what the nutritional value is for bugs. I always end up eating at least one on my trips.

PEANUT said...

rickie: I suppose bugs are fairly low on calories! haha. Did you know that before the advent of industrial-level pesticides, those on a plant-based diet got their B-12 predominantly from the bugs on plants? I won't post anymore today since you won't be able to read it. It takes quite some time to replace 2,097 calories!

hey chr15: this was my first time i realized that the reddish puddles are a result of the Sahara. very strange for me. Do let me know how the waffles come out when you get an iron.

GCDavid said...

As part of a larger news story, President Bush said today in the Rose Garden of the White House, "This act of aggression by the sand is evidence that the war on terror continues. We will not stand by while the sand continues to threaten the birth of democracy in the Arab World, including the desert. Good people all over the world unite behind the US in saying that the sand is either with us, or with the terrorists. No sandstorm will be able to extinguish the light of freedom which is a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples."

The sand was not available for comment.

PEANUT said...

As an average American, I don't have a very positive opinion on Bush so i'd be inclined to believe that he truly said that. Please tell me it isn't so...

bikesgonewild said...

...sending you a personal note...written on sandpaper...woof...