On our early run this morning, some of the skirts were discussing what some our rules might look like, in contrast to that of to the Velominati's.  It all basically boiled down to only one rule, not 91, not Ten Commandments, but one rule.  The Only Rule is this, The family comes first.  Now with this rule there are subheadings and an entire alphabet of scenarios to explain why, how, where, and when this rule applies, but for those who are married to a cyclist you know what I'm talking about.

The Only Rule # 1 The family comes first.
a. If you have a hobby, or are training, do it before the house is awake, for example, 5:00 a.m. is acceptable.  This way you don't interrupt everyone's day.

b. If you enter a race, go on a ride or run, the children are yours and you must find a babysitter.  

c. A skirt can never take a sick day off.  You may have the flu, strep, and feel like crap, but you are always responsible for everyone's dinner, homework and laundry.

d. A skirt is always on call. Be prepared to cancel or move your plans on a minute's notice. Your day is always "tentative" because you never know when you might get that call to run your kid's homework to the elementary school, Fed Ex that binder to your husband on his business trip, or have to double back to meet that repair man at the house who suddenly called.

e. If you have a young skirt in the house, educate her.  Give her more to do.  Get her up early and make her eat last.  The more she learns now, the better off she'll be.

f.  Shop at a discount and use coupons. Nothing pleases a skirt more than rolling through the sticky floors of Wall mart saving money and clipping coupons out of newspapers. The more a skirt saves - the less debt at the local bike shop.  

g. Enjoy your quality time with the kids at practices, grocery shopping, piano, dance, swimming, and soccer etc.  Your man is enjoying his quality time riding after work.  You had your time...preferably at 5:00 a.m. with a headlamp and reflective gear.

h.  Be sure to show your delight in taking one for the team.  Embrace it!  Okay, sometimes this can be displayed with slamming doors, glassy stares and the ever-popular silent treatment.