Under the gun...

According to the calendar, I have a wedding to attend soon. My own! Which is more nerve racking, preparing for the first cyclocross race the weekend before the wedding or preparing for the wedding? It's a trick question as the two things are equally stressful.

My parents asked me not to race the weekend before the wedding but I really want to. My race is 30-minutes and my field is rather small. It's not like I am racing IN my wedding dress. JC will be racing just a few minutes before me. We will finish about the same time. For both events though, it is down the final preparations, the final details, the tasks.

Between interval training rides which stiffen my legs to concrete, I've confirmed the photographer, had a quick dress rehearsal and check in with mom regularly on other details. Without my mom, our wedding would likely be a thrown together potluck outside under a misshapen tent with JC and me in jeans and tee shirts. Mom has been able to do so much with so little. She is crafty with that glue gun.

Normally, this time of year I am nervous anyway with the race season approaching. The wedding is just icing on my nerve cake. There is nothing to worry about but when you are a task master and a person who likes to be a hostess, it is really hard to not want to work the event like I've done so many times over. It’s equally as distracting to not be able to train every night of the week. I’m a worker bee and like to be my best at all times. Mom consistently reminds me that I am not supposed to be working on our wedding day. I will likely be doing some tasks...it's how I operate. I can stand on a ladder in heels. I’ve done it before.


New Cyclocross Frames Awaiting Building

Speaking of tasks..the next tasks, taking a day off to go to the Social Security office and the DMV. The name change will happen sometime in the next six weeks. I'm ready. My new bikes have my married name on the top tubes but my racing license has my maiden name. It's all in the details.

I would like to think of the cyclocross race the weekend before like a bachelor/ bachelorette party sans jell-o shots, drunken madness, and any glittery stripper nudity. Next week, I am having drinks with the girls to celebrate the approaching nuptials. Since I am not a party girl, this is the perfect thing and something I am truly looking forward to. The cyclocross race just continues the party in a spandex sweaty haze.

It has not been a traditional engagement. Nothing, JC and I have ever done has been traditional or normal. There has always been some hitch, glitch, or hiccup. We’ve been able to look back and laugh about the past three years while looking forward to the future. This has truly been a great year and whether I was supposed to end up here or not, I’m here. Bring on a race, bring on a wedding, just not at the same time.