Yesterday morning, I was intimidated by the ride I was about to take on.  The ‘cons’ seem to keep on increasing.

• New dirt – I had no idea what to expect
• New friends – I had only ridden with these people once before and it ended in disaster only 3 miles in (and I don’t know them outside of riding either)
• The planned workout was 2.5hr with tempo pushes… wasn’t sure how to get that in with the 2 above points
• Intimidation – One of the guys rides a steel single-speed and I got the impression he was “dialing down the ride” since the rest of us were ladies.
• Tired legs – You know during the training cycle when your legs always seem to feel like lead?  Yeah, I’m there. (I know it will it make me stronger.)

Despite all of the above, I showed up at the appropriate time and place.  I put on my brave, happy face – got geared up and pushed off with the group.

It was nothing like I expected.

My biggest motivation is that I REALLY need to find new dirt to train on, and it’s a lot easier to try out new places to ride with someone else.  So, I put my fears aside and pedaled off.

Pretty soon enough, I figured out that we were a diverse group.  The ladies were certainly more technically sound than I.  They took a lot more risks and knew how and when to take drops.  So they pushed me through some obstacles that I would have shied away from.

The guy on the single speed?  I was right behind his wheel on every uphill.  For every time the ladies had to wait for us at the bottom of a hill, we waited for them at the top.

In the end, I found out that we were all envious of each other’s strong points – and brushed off our own. That’s when I really appreciated our diverse little group.  It was actually a better ride for us all because we didn’t have the same skills.  We pushed ourselves harder than we would have done on our own.

So next time I get the opportunity to ride with them again, I’ll not only say “YES!” but let all those little ‘cons’ fall to the side and know that I’m going to get in a great ride.

Until next time!