Eat Drink Run Woman

Hoo boy; methinks I MAY have a problem.

Long time readers of EDRW know I have a thing for workout clothes. In fact, I spend more on them than I do regular ones. During a recent REI outing I shelled out more than $350 on workout gear; the cost for my dress for my sister’s wedding? $27 (although in my defense it’s a killer dress that I’ll get a lot of mileage out of).

This insanity started last year when I decided I needed a biking jersey to go along with my new bike. I thought of the ultimate shirt and Googled it to see if it existed. Sure enough, I found it at Team Estrogen. Unfortunately it only came in small, and when I called the company I found out it was a limited edition; no more would come available 🙁 I tried in vain to to find another source, to no avail. That’s when I settled on this shirt:

It’s apropos given my career, plus I get a lot of comments on it. But I still covet the one that got away.

Fast forward to this year. When our friend told us about the inaugural “Bike to Brews,” I knew I couldn’t ride in any old bike clothes. Besides, all my biking shorts were a decade old from my mountain biking days (I figured today’s shorts would have updated padding to cushion my delicate bits). So off to REI I headed.

I made a beeline to the clearance rack and was thrilled to find a biking skort and a matching top at a reduced price. I also picked up a pair of Descente biking shorts with a matching blue stripe. The other bikers were awestruck by my fashion sense.

A few days later I was perusing eBay for zebra accoutrements for my Medoc costume and on a whim I typed in the name of the character for my coveted biking jersey. Holy Crap! There was one available! The only downside was that it was a size XL, and I figured I needed a large. But what the heck? The bids were only at about $12 and the auction would be closing within 13 hours.

I didn’t want to alert the other bidders to my desire, so I decided to snipe (for you eBay virgins, that means placing a bid within the last minute or so). The auction would end at 9 a.m. the next morning, and I dreamt about it all night (in one of my dreams I justified paying as much as $150 for the shirt!!!). The next morning I saw the bids had gone up to $21; RASSENFRASSEN! I then questioned my sniping strategy. Should I just place a bid and enter the highest amount I’m willing to go?

My darling, always the voice of reason, reminded me that 1) I had just spent a boatload on clothes, and 2) the shirt was a size larger than what I wear. “Isn’t that the whole point of workout clothes — to show off your new slim figure?” he reasoned.

*sigh* I knew he was right. However, I figured if I could get it inexpensively then I could always tailor it. I placed a bid, stating I’d go as high as $35 (again, for you eBay virgins, your bid will continue to increase in dollar increments until it hits the highest you’re willing to go). A few minutes later I decided to increase the high bid to $40, as that was half the full retail cost of the shirt. I waited with bated breath as the auction ticked down. By now my bid of $31 was the highest; but would a sniper ruin it all?

At 9:06 a.m. I had my answer: I’m now the proud owner of:

And the best part? Size XL is the PERFECT size!!!