Abbreviations are a pain in the...

Head. Hands. And upper thigh area.

I have a new coworker whom I dare say just might be more of a smart ass than I. Yesterday afternoon we got into a war of quips, where I think she actually trumped me when I challenged her use of the abbreviation "obvs." I sent her a picture of this...

...whereas she replied by pointing me in the right direction, followed by a well-placed "Duh."

Unfortuantely, abbreviations became particularly relevant more than once for me yesterday.

Last night while incorporating intervals into my training ride home, I encountered an abbreviation of another kind. There may be DFL, DNF and JRA, but few abbreviations strike as much fear into a cyclist as OTB.

On a mountain bike, crashing is a slow motion affair. You feel your tires start to slip, the da-da-da of a stutter and the earth coming closer and closer until you finally meet it head and hands on. You have time to think "Roots, rocks, dirt. Hi there. Oww."

Crashing on the road, however, is a different experience altogether.

Bam! You don't even see it coming. You've made best friends with the asphault before your mind can even register the dangers of what a friendship could mean for both your bike and your body.

It's not until things start to sting do you finally start processing. And of course, you can't help but punctuate the experience with it's own special kind of abbreviation: WTF.