The nerve!

They make us get up at midnight the first Sunday in February to find out what the new route will be; how fitting it would be if they make us wait until midnight the day of the lottery!

To make matters worse, I was so excited about this year's Ride the Rockies route, I accidentally forgot to enter my credit card expiration date for one of our two registrations, but I did get it right the second time. I worried all day and all night we might be booted if we were drawn because I didn't enter proper billing information.

I called Ride the Rockies the next business day to find out how bad the damage would be. After a couple of days of checking into the problem, they told me we wouldn't be booted, and I'd have the opportunity to re-enter the required information if we were drawn.

We waited.

Results didn't slide easily into email boxes across the country first thing this morning, as it had the two years before. We kept waiting. Suddenly The Lizard called and told me I needed to call the bank right away.

Oh, it had to be good news! They had the pending charge and were waiting to process it until we verified the charge was indeed valid! It HAD to be good news!

It wasn't good news at all.

Someone in California had attempted to fraudulently use my credit card number in the middle of the night. The bank put a hold on my card until they could contact me. They did not allow the transaction to go through. They did, however, recommend I allow them to close the account immediately, just in case. The criminal likely knew the number wasn't going to work and wouldn't try to use it again, but just to be safe, the bank wanted me to get a new card.

No problem. Well, itsy bitsy, teeny tiny problem, I explained. I told them about Ride the Rockies, about the lottery this very day, and we were still waiting to hear. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

The bank assured me they'd let me know if those charges do indeed come through so I can approve them. I'd have to go a few days without a card, but that's okay. I don't like buying things on credit anyway. Gratitude and relief flooded my body because my bank is so awesome. Not every bank is so cool. But that's a tale for a different day. Even though my money is safe and sound, nerves abounded. Lottery results still had not been announced.

We waited. We waited some more. The Lizard called me at lunchtime to find out if I'd heard anything. He doesn't have access to email during the day. I told him I'd even checked the Facebook fan page to see if anyone else had been notified yet. A lot of cyclists were nervously fidgeting just like us. "When do we find out?" they'd post. "We'll notify all registrants on March 2," the response would follow.

11.5 hours of March 2nd left to go, thank you very much.

Then came the Facebook announcement at 12:50 that all lucky riders had been notified via email. We still had nothing.

We had decided just a few nights earlier NOT to register for a different weeklong ride if we were not drawn. Back in February, we'd found another one that doesn't require a lottery; just sign up, pay and you're in. The route is awesome, our favorite area of the state, but during the monsoon season, when lightning would present a danger to slow riders like me. (The Lizard would have no difficulty whatsoever clearing mountain passes before daily storms move in.) We thought this particular ride would be a great substitute if we were not drawn for Ride the Rockies, except I'd probably have to SAG every mountain pass, even if I left early in the morning before the sun came up, just to be safe. Mountain passes are the best part of any ride, challenging myself to do something difficult and be in a beautiful spot to boot. Keeping my body in shape, keeping diabetes at bay, snapping too many pictures along the way... I want to ride!

Deep snow buried our yard almost all winter long, and we were finally beginning to see tiny tufts of green. We'd been planning for more than a year to redo the entire yard, front and back, but we put so much time into training for rides, we haven't done much. We finally decided last week we could still be happy if we don't get drawn for Ride the Rockies this year if we finish up the yard instead of doing a weeklong tour.

Not being drawn definitely made me want to reconsider. I was so tempted to sign up for the Plan B ride instead.

The husband of a co-worker had signed up for Ride the Rockies, too. He's been drawn for every single one he ever put in for. His wife emailed to find out if we got in. She said she hadn't heard anything either. Nothing. I told her I have a stack of rejection letters from years gone by, all my unsuccessful attempts, but no new one yet. She said I should delete them all, too depressing. I told her they are war wounds, and they prove how hard I've repeatedly tried to get in.

I kept checking email as work allowed, and every once in a while I'd check the Facebook page just to see if anyone else was elated yet. Everyone was still asking when the results would be announced.

Ride the Rockies said the list of riders would be published sometime in the afternoon. So I checked that.

AND THERE WERE OUR NAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My co-worker's husband, too!

Still no email. Still no word from my bank. Still nothing about how this is going to be paid for, being as I'm credit cardless for a few days.

BUT WE'RE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe the yard will get done next year...

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