Pedaling With My Lady

During these many years of bicycle discovery, I started dating and eventually married my lovely wife Crystal. Sharing cycling with her has always been one of my goals. How I went about that process was a long road of trials and errors.

When we first meet in high school I was not into cycling yet so there was not much to share. It wasn't until we started dating in college that she started coming out to mountain bike races to cheer me on. After she attended a few races I borrowed a friends bike and took her to Deep Run Park for some intro level single track. Unfortunately the bike I put her on had toe clips. At the top the a hill we had just climbed we turned right into a switch back. She fell, not fast or hard, but she could not get her foot out of the toe clip. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the emergency room for a bad ankle sprain.

A year or two later I bought her a mountain bike, after offering her a road bike and being turned down because "the tires are too skinny". We went back to single track once or twice, but she really had no interest in it. When we would ride on the road she had trouble keeping up with our skinny wheeled bikes. Eventually she ended up buying a Fuji that really fit her cycling needs.

It has been around three to four years since she bought that bike and we have added a Brooks and some large flat pedals to it. Unfortunately she doesn't always ride when I do, but this year I have made it my goal to invite her more often and also set aside time for just the two of us to ride. Last week we rode twice around the neighborhood in the evening and Sunday we went for a ride to her parents and then for some lunch. Here's to more rides with my lady in 2008. We should be out on two wheels this evening.

Riverside Seven 08
More riverside on Saturday, just Grant and I this time and we had lunch with Erin afterwards. Click on the picture below for the rest.

Site Watch
Artcrank is a bike poster show in Minneapolis that I am not fortunate enough to attend. I am fortunate enough to share the pictures from that show via their website though. My favorite and inspiration for a possible painting on my own workshop door is below.


Bike Pr0n Coming to Richmond
It will be here on 3/27/08, but I don't know the time or venue yet. Hopefully I can share the details soon, but I plan to attend for sure.