Bridging the Gap of Acknowledgement

We're all in our own little worlds. Bridging the gap to communicate with someone in their world can sometimes be a challenge. It helps if you're more or less on the same plane, experiencing the same flow.... but not always.

For example: Cyclists! That ever strange gaggle of interpreters and complicated communicators. Cyclists seem to scan other cyclists for everything from rider positioning, geometry, kit, components, frame brand, speed, etc. in order to decide whether or not that other rider gets a quick wave or nod of the head or ignored!

Runners aren't a hell of a lot better with each other. The chances of getting a quick wave of acknowledgement decrease over the terrain on which one is running - I'm gonna go with 60% for trails and then decreasing through paths, roads, and sidewalks...

Hikers might be the best at interacting with each other. Kudos! Possibly 8 or 9 out of 10 will initiate or respond for quick interaction. Yet walkers, strangely, have perhaps the lowest score of all: maybe it's all too close for comfort around town at close range and Is that person waving at me a crazy psychopath?

Oh, yeah. Drivers. Sorry. You're last. Not even a turn signal anymore. When was the last time anyone waved at a stranger in a car passing in the other direction. Maybe on a country road somewhere - which brings up the point, of course these percentages are going to change for different regions around the state, country, world... but I'm experiencing this here now and it's probably spreading your way soon if it hasn't already arrived.

Now, back to bridging that gap. If we're going with the highly researched (LOL) 60% best hope for wave back communication between people sharing the same trail running experience, what kind of expectation do we have for cross activity interaction? A cyclist to a runner? Unprecedented! Dismal.

But why? Let's change all that. Let's step outside our little worlds and be a part of the big one! And then, ironically, the world will be a smaller place...

Why, just today, I waved at a driver for intentionally not right hooking me! Amazing.

A wave, a peace sign, a wink... It's all good...

And pretty soon everyone all over the place will be waving and smiling and chatting and getting to know each other and all like, You go ahead... No, you go ahead... No, really, you go ahead, I'm in no rush...

It will be hilariously safe and we'll all get to where we're going 5 minutes late and no one will care because we'll all be on the same flowing plane...

Underwear and How to Wear It

Underwear. You may not think about it too often, but if you're a runner you probably should. Because it does a lot for us as runners with all that wicking and cooling and supporting, etc. But it can also do a lot to us; two words come to mind: Stink and Chafe. Yep.

As far as the stink goes I still have no real clear understanding of why activewear of any kind seems to smell so terrible so quickly. Nor do I have any suggestions on how to address the issue - but I'd love to hear some!

With chafe, on the other hand, I've discovered something. Clearly a lot of research and development has gone into the making of the running specific underwear that is now widely available at your local running shop. It's so soft and sleek and smooth and, I mean, it even looks beautiful! But all too often that smooth beauty is only on the outside. And while those no-see-'em seams do look great in the print ads and websites, they won't do you much good if they're not against your skin... So if your running underwear doesn't have flat inner seams, wear it inside out. Trust me, you're gonna like it...

And, yes, of course there's lube of all sorts these days, and I highly recommend them! But wouldn't it be better if those were less of a necessity and more of a preference...