Arachnophobia
Colin and I have a good routine - twice a week he hops on his bike, I trudge/jog along, we both sweat a little, and all is good in the world.
Until last week.
We were a little over 2 miles into our normal route. Colin was just slightly ahead of me, pedaling happily along. I was breathing hard but generally feeling pretty good. I had some music on my phone (no headphones when I run with Coach Colin - have to be able to hear everything) and it was a beautiful day.
Then... as we went down one particular street, there were a few trees and bushes near the sidewalk. Strategically placed. Just far enough to tempt some spiders to spin their webs.
It wasn't a giant web-ball, just a few strands of web stretching across from a bush to a tree. Or a bush to another small bush.
Colin biked through the web (there was really nowhere else to go, nad he didn't notice until it was too late) and started a mild freak-out. "Ack! Webs! Spiderwebs! ACK!" which quickly became a full-blown panic "AAAAUUUGGGHHHH..... THERE'S A SPIDER ON MEEEE!!!!! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF!!!!!!!"
In his panic Colin rode off... zoomed away ahead of me. At top speed.
At this point I'm still jogging, trying hard to keep from falling over I'm laughing so hard. I shouted gently to Colin to ride his bike back over to me so I could help him. His response was more "GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF" but he eventually rode over and came up alongside me. I kept jogging and looked at his back... and found the spider. It was approximately 1/4 inch long.
I got it off his back, as he exclaimed about how much he HATES spiders. (Really? I hadn't noticed!) He was going on and on until he realized that the spider had jumped off my hand and was hanging from a web... trailing right back toward Colin and his bike. That was it - ZOOM! He was off, and stayed a good 10 yards ahead of me until I (finally) managed to convince him that the spider was gone.
Someday he's going to be this giant, tough, hulking guy and I'm going to remind him and ALL of his friends about today. Mwah-ha-ha-ha!
Until last week.
We were a little over 2 miles into our normal route. Colin was just slightly ahead of me, pedaling happily along. I was breathing hard but generally feeling pretty good. I had some music on my phone (no headphones when I run with Coach Colin - have to be able to hear everything) and it was a beautiful day.
Then... as we went down one particular street, there were a few trees and bushes near the sidewalk. Strategically placed. Just far enough to tempt some spiders to spin their webs.
It wasn't a giant web-ball, just a few strands of web stretching across from a bush to a tree. Or a bush to another small bush.
Colin biked through the web (there was really nowhere else to go, nad he didn't notice until it was too late) and started a mild freak-out. "Ack! Webs! Spiderwebs! ACK!" which quickly became a full-blown panic "AAAAUUUGGGHHHH..... THERE'S A SPIDER ON MEEEE!!!!! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF!!!!!!!"
In his panic Colin rode off... zoomed away ahead of me. At top speed.
At this point I'm still jogging, trying hard to keep from falling over I'm laughing so hard. I shouted gently to Colin to ride his bike back over to me so I could help him. His response was more "GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF-GET-IT-OFF" but he eventually rode over and came up alongside me. I kept jogging and looked at his back... and found the spider. It was approximately 1/4 inch long.
I got it off his back, as he exclaimed about how much he HATES spiders. (Really? I hadn't noticed!) He was going on and on until he realized that the spider had jumped off my hand and was hanging from a web... trailing right back toward Colin and his bike. That was it - ZOOM! He was off, and stayed a good 10 yards ahead of me until I (finally) managed to convince him that the spider was gone.
Someday he's going to be this giant, tough, hulking guy and I'm going to remind him and ALL of his friends about today. Mwah-ha-ha-ha!
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