Alone, not Lonely

I ride alone a lot. I like to ride alone and no, I don't feel lonely. Most of the time, that is. If there is a strong headwind and I have no one to draft, then boy, do I feel lonely. Almost lonely enough to drag someone out of their house and pay them to run in front of me. But usually, I don't get lonely. How can I? I have dogs trying to run me down, possible bears chasing me in the woods, porcupines blocking the trail in protest, giant trucks trying to run me off the road. How on earth would I have time to be lonely??

I did a nice ride on Saturday, right out of the house on some of the best trails in Vermont. BikeHubby and some of the 'boys' drove to Burke to ride the Kingdom Trails and he raved for hours on how great the trails were. I can't wait to try them out.

I, on the other hand, went out by myself - starting temp was 58 degrees. I practiced riding up and down some different single track, trying figure 8s in small places, going up and over obstacles- I never thought I would turn into a mountain biker. And there I was, concentrating on executing a turn in between some trees. I really thought that road riding was the end all and be all for me, but there is something satisfying about grinding up a steep climb, over big rocks, through dirt, and getting to the top, only to be faced with a technical decent, high burm turns, and mud holes.

Lonely? No way. I've got my bike and most of the time, it is better company than most people!

Pedal, pedal, pedal!