Meghan's Blog

Try living in Utah,like I do,and being a biker.I once had someone (in an SUV)throw a fast food soft drink cup at me,it missed.Then I saw his license plate as he drove past, it was a special Utah plate that only firemen can get.

Sounds like an awesome ride Meghan!! Glad you enjoyed yourself! Funny about the Chex Mix and pop - when I'm out riding long I seriously think I could eat ANYTHING (which is what I really like as compared to running :)...including stopping at bakeries and getting doughnuts! :)

Hope your foot feels better soon!

Meghan, now you make me feel responsible for your foot!! :-) Oh man, I am sorry you hurt yourself. How can I make up? Is your sweetie coming after me? :-) Oh, oh...

Woman, when you try something for the first few times do it slowly and gradually... I still often walk barefoot on very stony or nasty surfaces. And always start really easy.

Last week I played rugby barefoot on a grass field with a bunch of old men and some juvenile speed wonders and had an absolute blast... Ran like a maniac, scored tries dreaming of Twickenham... however there was so much sidestepping I almost hurt my right foot. I say almost because those two trial-and-error crumbs of wisdom i have earned, have made me quite alert to injury in the making. I istinctively know when to pull back... but a young, wild, thoroughbred like you... let me know if i need to take care of doctor's bills or anything...

Nice ride, Meghan! It sounds absolutely beautiful. And I agree really anything seems okay to eat on the bike. I am a fan of sporty jelly beans, but chex mix can hit the spot too... Anyway I hope your foot is feeling better soon!!

Corrado,

No! I don't hold you responsible for my foot! No way, I'm the dimwitted one!

Since it's summer in Yellowstone, and there isn't a few feet of snow everywhere, I've been walking around barefooted. You know, just in my house/yard/etc. Then, I started playing with my dog barefooted, running around the yard a little bit, and stuff. Next came the idea of doing leg strength stuff barefooted, and that's what was apparently too much for my weak little feetsies! Apparently my thoroughbred self didn't know it until it was too late. I just hope no one thinks that I'll never win the Derby now, and that they need to put me down... sigh. ;)

Thanks for the well wishes, everyone!

Meghan,

I'm from Southest Idaho and I'm completely jealous that you live in the Park! Sounds like an amazing ride!

Hope your foot starts feeling better.

...phewww! :-)
What part is hurting? Sending some good foot-healin mojo from Rome... NOW... stick the foot on the screen... ha ha... Take care woman, you'll be sound in no time...

Hey, don't be too hard on the SUV driver - maybe they had a meeting to go to? Maybe they had an appointment? There must've been something really very important that they just HAD to get to and you were in the way.

Someone once yelled at me that they had a "right" to drive as fast as they want. I was like, "Uh, you mean a "right" as in guaranteed by law - as in Constitutional? But aren't speed limit signs posting the limits to your "rights". So if you exceed the speed limit, ... I'm sorry - What are your "rights"? You have a right to break the law? Where do you get that?"

Maybe they're smokin' some good stuff! Maybe they smoke CocaCola and Chex Mix?!

Sounded like an awesome ride. That part from Tower to Canyon sounds scary, if I remember the road right.

Corrado,

I think I strained my posterior tibial tendon, as my pain is located where this tendon connects to the bottom of my foot. Also, I think its inflammation is irritating the posterior tibial nerve, because I'm getting some burning and tingling on the inside of my ankle. See this page's diagramming for details: http://www.doctorfoot.com/diagrams.html

JeffO,

Sorry, but I'm going to respectfully decline in giving the SUV a break, for reasons of legality and human life value. :) I find it sad when people road rage, and even sadder when they bring their mainstream world road raging to beautiful places like this. People, you're on vacation! I'm sure you can wait 1 more minute to get your ice cream so that you drive legally and safely!

I didn't tell the whole story. After the honking and the onscenity shooting, the SUV proceeded to pass me on a steep switchback with no visbility. They had to abruptly swerve back onto the right side of the road to avoid hitting oncoming traffic. I kid you not, not 20 seconds later, we all came to screeching halt for a grouse baby jam (Yes, traffic was dead stopped to allow a family of grouse cross the road. They were pretty adorable, making funny cheeping noises and beating 1 inch long wings, and all.). From there, we all traveled into the Mammoth developed area at the same speed. They arrived about 1 second before me. Whew, thank goodness they made that dangerous, scary pass when they did. :)

Have a nice day!

Yes, I was facetious, of course. They're in the middle of pristine wilderness and they act like it's rush-hour in downtown New York!

I was on a single-lane road once, rampart drop-off on one side and verticle on the other. Waaaaay down below was a smashed-up vehicle that didn't make it.
I was headed down and this guy in an SUV was coming up. He was in a flamin' HURRY! I was moving over very carefully, stopping and getting out to see how many inches my tires were from the drop-off, then getting back in and moving some more. This was taking too long for him. He was so PO'd I seriously thought I was going to have to shoot the SOB.
And it's always some city-slicker that can't leave their stress back in the concrete jungle.

Sometimes, though, we trail-runners get mis-understood. I run up and down mountains and some slower hikers from lower, flatter places get gripy at me for bringing the rush to the wilderness. But they shouldn't get upset. I stop for any reason. I give them tons of space. I never get angry at slow people or pets. I don't try to force my speed on anyone and I'm not competing with anyone. I don't cuss at people in my way.

It's a symptom of what's wrong though. Mentally, people are insecure, competitive race-car drivers. They hate it when someone is ahead of them or faster than them, so they're constantly trying to speed up and pass. And if they can't they get rude and belligerant. They turn simple things into combat.
It's sad.

Oh, my, da foot! At least you can bike well and keep conditioning yourself! It is nice of the tourists to be-friend a cyclist (besides an SUV people), kind of makes it all special. Good going, stay positive, you'll get over it!

Good foot anatomy reference! I thought I might try running barefoot ... once I can run again. Now I think I will stick with shoes. Hope your foot is feeling better.