Rookie Rash

Remember my friend Sandy that I told you about? (check this post for background) Well, Sandy wouldn't give up on asking me to go out with her on a ride. A real ride. With cars and witnesses and potential for death.

We scheduled a date. Well, I did that thing where I was half-heartedly like "how about next weekend?" to which she said "I am riding 60 miles on Saturday with my friend who is training for the Ironman, but what about Friday?"

At this point, I am wondering how the hell I can get out of this. I am going out on my first bike ride with someone who uses the term "Ironman" so casually in conversation. To say I felt in over my head is an understatement.

"Friday, sure, how about 3pm?" And I clicked the send button. And with that sent email, my fate was sealed.

Last night I was nervous. This morning I had my training session and told my trainer how nervous I was. She said "Don't be nervous! You won't fall. Well, you might fall." And that was the second time someone told me "You're gonna fall, just be ok with it. Probably a few times."

Great.

So Friday is here. I had no excuse to not meet Sandy at the local bike shop to go out on our ride. Seems like a good place to meet, but imagine - going to the BIKE SHOP and trying to RIDE A BIKE in their parking lot. But it couldn't be that hard to ride. I mean, it's phrased "it's just like riding a bike" for a reason, right?

Wait for it.

I think this is called "Rookie Rash"

 I get there, Sandy is there, so excited for me. She even put beginner pedals on the bike for me so I wasn't clipped in. The seat was good to go, and off we went. Well, off she went. I got on the bike, was overcome by awkwardness, started to pedal in the parking lot (yes, right near the front of the store where people were perusing the bikes on the sidewalk) and whoop whoop WOP. Down I go, right in front of the bike professionals. It was one of those sloooooow falls. I knew I was about to fall, I was falling, falling, fell.

But Sandy was not phased. "Let's ride around the parking lot and practice shifting!" So we did, for about 30 seconds. And then Sandy said "Time to go!" "Time to what?" I asked. But before I could say no, we were off into traffic.

Don't worry, it just got better from there. I was two breaths away from telling her that I didn't want to do this. I wasn't ready for this. I don't think I'm capable.

Sound familiar?

We didn't ride very far, in my opinion. But Sandy was the most encouraging person ever. The whole time we rode, she was just chatting with me and would talk about beginners and how out of shape most  people are that they can't make it half the distance we went. And then she said something I'll never forget:

"But you're so in shape, I'm not worried about you at all!"

Who was she talking about? I legitimately had a moment while I was riding and wondering "did this woman just say I was in shape? I must have heard her wrong?"

This is post-ride. Pre-ride I was in no mood
for photos.

I have had some moments in the past year where I simply cannot believe that this is my life now, that this is who I am now. And today was absolutely one of them. The ride was great. It was challenging, scary, and there was one time a car came so close to me that I thought I was going to fly into a ditch. But it was exhilarating and I was so glad I got out of the parking lot.

I guess my lesson for the day is: how many things do I talk myself out of because I am afraid? How many things do we not try because it's easier to stay in the mediocre middle?

The other lesson for the day: everybody falls. So, get back up.

-Liz