Wednesday Women's Ride....how it all started...

So, I have been riding my bike as much as I can; my mileage is improving; my comfort level on the bike is improving; my love for the bike is growing; life is good!

BUT....Fear of the unknown...I have been like this with my horse riding too.  For years I rode by myself.  It started out as necessity....if I didn't go alone I would never ride.  I can't spend my life waiting....so I go.  Then I got used to it and I loved riding alone.  The more I did things alone the more I was happy doing things alone.  No stress...no pressure....no worrying about making mistakes (my horse act up or me doing something stupid on the bike to make people mad)... me going too slow for the group...me wanting to stop for pictures or to enjoy the scenery while other want to go go go...me not being able to go the same mileage as the others...you get the idea.  IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE!  I CAN DO THIS!  YIKES!   

I knew I needed to do what I have never done before...after all, I had a ride coming up that involved riding on paved roads - with cars! (Red Shoe Ride).....I needed to ride on roads.  I was talking to a girl at work about it (she rides a lot) and she told me about this women's group she rode with; she told me to go see Angela at CycleX.   https://cyclex.com/   She told me this was exactly what I needed...Angela would help me and it is a no-drop ride.  I had to ask what that meant...it means I can be slow - they won't leave me.  :-)

THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!
I have learned so much and have had so much fun!

I showed up and met Angela; she works at the bike shop and started this Wednesday night ride for women.  She wants to get more women on bikes and wants to have a ride for all rider levels to have some fun and learn.  I started out by telling her that I wanted to ride but I didn't know how to shift and I have never ridden in town.  I have only been on the MKT Trail a few times with my Mtn bike.  She smiled and said "No problem!  I will teach you!"  She let me ride one of their rental bikes (the same one I rented for the Red Shoe two weeks later)  The ride was almost 11 miles and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!  She showed me how to shift (shifter is way different than my bike!) and explained shifting on the hills (yep, there were hills!).  She explained how to ride through town safely (yep, we rode through town and I survived!).  She showed me the hand signals they used and also the verbal signals the used to let everyone know it was clear to cross a street, etc.  All of the gals on the ride were so nice and I knew I wanted to continue to ride with them.  I didn't feel like an outsider at all.

OH!  And the ride was all on paved trails!  We rode through town to get to the trail.  We made it to a turn around point (first picture) then headed back.  Riding on paved trails...oh my gosh...amazing!  Love it! 

I don't have the picture of the first ride I took with them but here are a few pictures of us on other Wednesday night rides.  They all have the Strava app so needed a picture to post.  I finally installed the Strava app on my phone and I love it!  It is fun to keep track of miles, routes, look at pictures, etc.  I am still learning that too....

Here are a few pictures of our group...not everyone can make it every week so sometimes groups are larger or smaller than other nights....but every ride is just as much fun as the last.  We just miss the ones who were not there.

 This was one of our first very dark nights.  I still didn't have a road/hybrid type bike and was not comfortable riding my knobby tire bike with the group.  Which was silly...I should have ridden it!  But you don't know what you don't know until you know it...and now I know it would have been just fine!  :-)
The good thing is I was test riding different bikes because I knew I wanted a new one.  I was ready!  So it really did work out. 

The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving...it was me and Angela and it was pretty darn cold.  She suggested doing a short ride to Stephens Lake and maybe do a couple laps around the place.  Sounded perfect to me!  We ended up doing five laps around the park...and oh my gosh, it was a work out!  But let me tell you what, if it was not for me being with Angela who is wayyyyyy more in shape than I am, I would not have pushed myself.  I would have made the 'couple laps' we agreed on and called it a night feeling all full of myself because I rode in the cold....  Thank you Angela for pushing me without really pushing me.  :-) 
We stopped for our Strava picture with the Boone Hospital lights behind us...her bike computer said it was 21 degrees.  And you know what else?  I FELT AWESOME!!!!  AND I FELT FULL OF MYSELF!!!!  Ha ha!

Our last Wednesday Women's Ride of 2017....to the Magic Tree.  I almost backed out of this one...I had been cold all day and it was a chilly evening.  I am sooooo glad I went!
One of the gals and her husband ride everywhere and he showed up at the tree to say hello and take pictures...and get his picture taken! The girls are holding him up while I am supervising.  Ha ha!  What a fun group!!!

Thank you to Angela and all the girls who have been riding with the group!  You are all amazing and I love you all! 

It finally got too cold to ride on Wednesday night so we are holding off until March.  But that doesn't mean we won't meet up to socialize once in a while...yeah, socializing (and looking forward to it!) is new to me too.  And if a weekend happens to have some nice weather whoever can get away from home will meet up to ride.

So if there are any other gals around the Columbia, MO area and wants to ride....I highly recommend checking out this group!  I also recommend coming to visit the bike shop:  https://cyclex.com/

Until later...