Little Known Fact

Little known fact: I have an extremely small head.

Fortunately, I don't think I am one of those people whose body looks disproportionate to their headsize (now if i shaved my head, it might be a different story). But this tidbit has been fodder for an endless amount of jokes from my future husband (what.a.guy) since the moment he discovered I was "cranially challenged". 

For example:

Last weekend after my cycling accident I had a CT scan of my head taken to make sure everything was OK.  This produced two X-ray type films; one of just my skull and the other of my brain.  He found it hilarious to show me (and our friends who came over for lunch later in the day) the one of my "empty" skull and say, "see, I knew your (her) head was too small to fit a brain! This explains so much!" and so on.  Brutal.  Not the teasing (because it is typically in a playful, loving way), but the quality of the jokes, can we say lame?! (sorry babe, love you!)

Anyway, having a small head has always been a bit of a challenge for me when it comes to buying hats, headbands, and/or any other sort of headwear.  For hats I typically have to wear the adjustable kind, strapped to the smallest setting or an extra small fitted size.  One-size-fits-all? Um, LIES. Not this little head. 

Typically, I am not bothered or embarrassed by the fact my head is so small...although yesterday was an exception.  Due to my accident I had to replace my helmet.  For those of you that don't know, I live in the Middle East and it is not always easy to find things you want/need.  Especially when it comes to sports and fitness type supplies, food, and equipment (with the exception of soccer gear).  There is a surprisingly decent sized cycling/mtb community here; however, there is only one real store in the entire country that supplies to our needs.  While they do carry some essentials; it is a small store with pretty limited offerings and brand varieties. 

So anyway, we went down there to find me an interim replacement helmet.  I am going to buy a light-weight racing helmet when I go back to the states in July but I need one in the mean time so I can still ride.  They only had a couple to choose from and the salesman starts off by handing me a medium sized helmet; I try to tell him that a medium will be too big but he insists it is adjustable and will fit.  I try it on and crank it down to the smallest setting and low and behold, the helmet is not even close to fitting.  "Oh, I see," says the salesman.  He tells me he needs to go into the back and see if they have any smalls available.  After a few minutes of searching he finds one.  I try it on, crank it down, and it still does not fit.  He hands me a "universal size" helmet which can adjust to a smaller circumference than the small and still, no luck.  At this point the future hubs starts laughing and hands me this:

The Trek "Little Dipper" helmet, designed for small children.  After a bit of coercing, I put it on just to humor him...I was able to get it on my head, but it did not fit properly because it was not deep enough (thank god). But, I was still able to get my head into it, which was enough to cause the future hubs to go into hysterics.  Even the salesman was laughing at me as he said, "Ok, I see what you need. This will work," and hands me the following:

It is a Trek Youth "Vapor" helmet and of course it fit, PERFECTLY.  The future hubs starts telling the salesman, "Great, we will take it!"  Um, future hubs, Seriously?! Are you kidding?! I am sorry but, really?!?!  I would rather not ride my bike then get caught wearing this thing...it screams 12 year old girl! Honestly, while having a small head is one thing, I don't think the whole world needs to know that I wear helmets designed for pre-pubescent children.  Especially when I am trying to intimidate the competition during a race. Yeah, not happening.  I plead desperately to the salesman, "Do you have this in any other color?? PLEASE, ANYTHING ELSE."  He looks over the helmets on display and says he needs to go check in the back.  The future hubs shoots me the looks that says, "Are you really going to be such a fashion diva? It is just a helmet." Um, YES and I am quite sure you wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that while out training with the Terminator and Mr. German National because they would never let you hear the end of it.

After a few minutes the salesman comes out from the back with this (the very last one):

Ok, now this is something me and my tiny head can live with.

Tasting the Pavement

People in the Middle East seem to be very confused by my hobbies.  Yesterday's events only further proved this theory.


I got into an accident while cycling at 45 kilometers per hour (~28 mph).  I was reaching down for my water bottle and hit a raised reflector in the road (I didn't see it coming). Since I only had one hand on my handlebars I was unable to correct my balance and I went flying directly into the highway...where the locals tend to drive like maniacs at speeds greater than 100 mph.  Luckily, there were no cars immediately in the location that I landed but traffic was oncoming quickly.


Now in the US (at least where I am from) if a driver came up to a cyclist crashed on the road they would stop their car, get out and try to help that person or at least make sure that they are OK.  This is not the case in the Middle East.  Instead the driver slows down and starts flashing their lights and honking at you for getting in their way.  Then after they have made you aware of your "error", instead of stopping to help they will just drive around you while continuing to honk out their displeasure. Awesome.


As I skid out into the highway I was screaming in horror and pain.  My entire right arm, shoulder, hip and lower leg became covered in "road rash" aka a wicked gravel filled abrasion.  I hit my head, causing my helmet to dent and crack.  I was dizzy from the impact and unable to react quickly enough to get myself out of the road and dangers way.  Thankfully the other cyclists I was with (one of them being the Construction Manager of my project) were able to react quickly for me.  They were able to move me and my bike to the side of the road and help me.  I have to note that even after I was out of the road, still lying on the ground, cars continued to drive by and honk at us.  Seriously, I am almost POSITIVE that at least SOMEONE driving by in the US would stop and help if they saw someone in distress on the side of the road without a vehicle parked nearby.  Obviously a bunch of people on bikes are not going to be able to get a person to a hospital if needed. Am I right?


Anyway, I was able to get to the hospital to get cleaned up and checked out.  All is well.  Except again, Middle Eastern people don't understand my hobbies.  Every doctor & nurse I saw kept asking me if I got into my accident while swimming.  What?!  How on earth would I manage to get that scraped up while swimming??!!  My only guess is they were extremely confused by all the spandex I was wearing since all the Islamic women here wear like full spandex outfits that cover their entire bodies when they go swimming.  But again, I was wearing spandex shorts cut well above my knees and a short sleeved spandex shirt...and also carrying a cracked helmet.  I would think the helmet would be a dead give away.  Wrong.  Then when I told them I got into the accident while cycling, they responded: "Motorcycle?".  Well, at least that is a bit closer.  None of them seemed to believe that a person could ride a bike at 45 km/hr either.  Guess they have never heard of Lance Armstrong.