Girls Out Alone...

I have had the registration form on my desk since May...I stare at it everyday right on top of the important stuff to be done. I even have most of it filled out...I just need to mail it in. I do not even have the excuse of low funds...actually I have a credit from Active.com. Hmmm....(tapping my fingers on my desk).

The road bike is up and running but there is an odd truth settling in. Last nights ride ended in silence...as I rode the last few miles by myself. I watched my shadow next to me dance in and out of the corn fileds. It was hypnotizing in a way and then I realized I was feeling lonely, listening to my chain and cassette. Recently a rider told me that I should get used to being alone on long rides. I understand the need for an i-pod now but I find that cars flying past me at 40, 50, or 60MPH may require I have BOTH ears working or grow eyes in the back of my head which I figure is considered a birth defect and not an asset.

The other fear, and I have shared this before is being out in the middle of no where alone. I am a 5'2", 112 pound girl. Forget men afraid of asking for directions. It applies to BOTH genders. It is slightly intimidating to approach some guy on his riding mower in spandex with purple water in your hand. Riding the park is not necessarily training but more leisure unless I want to attempt numerous sprints through the park that include dodging toddlers, strollers, walkers, runners, dogs (on and off leash), and sometimes cars lost but rolling in the wrong direction towards me.

Forget E-Harmony or other dating sites, I am proposing a cycling site that will match you with someone to train/ ride with. Instead of having small conversations with myself (I really do) or humming old church songs (I did that too), I could actually have another shadow to talk to. But then I am told that on my 103 mile journey, I will be alone a lot of the time. No cheerers...no crowds, no special finish line...just me. I wonder if the men in the Tour think about this? Probably not as you rarely see any of them alone and they have a pace car if they really need some cognitive stimulation. I need a voice in my helmet telling me..."you got this, you can do this", "c'mon, dig deep"...but for now I will have to include that in my conversations with myself.