A love story

Follower.  This is a blog chronicling my love affair with my bike, and I have yet to post about the love, and trials that come with love, of my bike. So shoot. Here goes. Let me tell you how Blanch (her name) and I are doing.

It started quite nice. I used an outside resource to meet her. My resource (Manny if you’re wondering) had her all picked out. He used answers to questions asked of me to do a compatibility test. After scientific computations, he had her all picked out.  We set up a blind date. (Manny was there of course. He had to ensure a good fit) It was like at first sight.  She was the most handsome bike in the room. We reviewed each other (I sat on her, she felt out my leg height) and went for a trial ride. Not bad. Handsome. Witty. Good conversation. Smart (best shifting and derailing system out there). And there was mutual interest.  We agreed to meet again (granted I took her home that night. Hey oh! She slept in my living room).

It was a few days before we met again.  We took it slow. We still looked each other over every time we saw each other (I had no idea what bikes did so I had to review the shifters, chain, tires). Just so handsome.  Yes, you can’t judge a book by its cover but the cover does help with the selling.  And I got quite a few compliments from fellow bikers (literally, at least 3-4 times a ride someone always says, nice bike). And she was beautiful. Over the course of that next couple of months we met once or twice a week, nice rides around Kensington and University Heights. Trips with friends. Solo trips. Long trips around the bay. And it was just working out so well. I really really liked her.  She was fantastic. I met someone whom I was really starting to fall for.  And I am pretty sure she liked me.  She felt me out. She started to understand my cadence, my speed, my singing to myself (I do that often) my slips as I tried to clip into her peddles, though I know I may have bruised her a little. Those clips are hard to navigate when you are first getting used to them and I am sure she thought the moves were crass. 

I may have gotten too used to her though. She was incredible. She was there for me and I started to forget to check her chains.  Her braking system. I got comfortable, and she made it so easy for me to get comfortable since she treated me so well. But for all that she was giving me, safe rides, smooth shifts, easy peddling, I forgot that she needed me in return to support her as much as she supported me. But she stood by my side ensuring that I was comfortable every mile of the way. She treated me so well.  I knew I needed to support her and coach reminded me so. I had was going to give her the TLC she deserved.

And then life turned upside down for me.

My best friend lost her loved one and I fell apart.  I was devastated.  The day I found out, I called upon Blanch, my rock, and rode her to her and I’s extreme. Phone calls were made on her back and tears fell on her from my eyes.  I was at my worst and she saw all of it. Those weeks were tough; and through every tear and question and sleepless hour, she was there. She was there when I worked my 12 hour shifts, my late night phone calls, and my depressed god challenging moments. We rode, we ate, I cried on her, we paused and watched life, we sat and watched TV together, her in the living room a constant reminder that I had someone to be my rock as I was a rock for those who needed me. I follower, was at my worse than I had been in over ten years.  I never thanked her during that time but have since.  She needs to know how incredible she was to me for that time, though she may not have realized it.

During this dear follower, I totally neglected Blanch. For a while.  I think I took a month off from her.  Don’t get me wrong, we saw each other almost every day (she had since moved to the kitchen). And I thought of how I needed to ride her and get to know her. I was committed to her. (We are going to go on a huge 7 day ride, of course I was committed). But I couldn’t pull myself out of my rut, dare I say depression, to ride her and let her know how much she meant to me.  Friends and also myself as well got the same neglect. Unfortunately I saw it and knew it.  I knew that I neglected my friends and her needs and put my complacency auto drive self first. How shitty of me.

Follower, I got through the rough times. Time heals all wounds they say.  And I am healing for the loss, and I am healing from my work. Yes follower, I let work take over my life a little too much. But life has gotten so much easier. I have a kick ass boss who took tons of pressure (and 60+ hour work weeks) off my shoulders and an Assistant Supervisor to help with my work load.    And through that, all the relationships, family, friends and Blanch all got a bit of a hold from me. However, now that work is better and my friend is healing, life is taking off again. My friendships are taking off. I am meeting so many new friends and people through ALC that life is changing.  This really is a wonderful life. My life is really a wonderful life.

“Blanch, I am sorry” I tell her.  She seems to understand.  I know I have been absent but I am here now, and you Blanch, deserve the best from me. You gave me the best when I was down.  Oh follower, it was rough. They say it’s like riding a bike, well, not so true. It is now officially training season and we have been absent from each other.  I took Blanch out of the kitchen and recommitted myself to her.  We spruced up, oiled and cleaned her chain, adjusted the brakes. I sat on her, felt the positioning of my body against hers and said let’s try this out. We were good before, it’s like riding a bike, yeah??

Well, no. The first week she and I went out and it was rough. I slipped off of her. She would shift and move under my feet. I couldn’t clip in, and our peddles and clips sometimes just didn’t meet up. I was absent and it was going to take more than this one day to get back on track.

Training day one with ALC is upon us. It was not bad. She still loved me and I loved her. We knew this may be hard and a challenge but we needed to try it out, so we rode. Some moments I clipped in no issues and we would take off and feel the salt air on our skin, refreshing, and blissful. Other times, we didn’t connect, one legged riding, through a stoplight as it is turning red and it was hard not to think will this work out. But we made it through day one.

Day two it gets better. Training ride three, even better.  We are relearning ourselves together and recommitting ourselves to each other.  We never forgot what each other needed, but it took time to feel each other intimately again. Things were getting better, slowly, sometimes difficult, but  they were getting better. Hey Blanch, let’s ride a Century. You and I work well together, and I want to be there for you as you have been there for me and make a journey of this love that we share. Let’s do it.

More getting to know you again needs to occur before the journey. Blanch now knows my style.  She ignores my perpetual signing to myself the same song over and over as she can be cool like that. But she feels my cadence. I feel her shifts. She feels my posture. She feels my grip. I am showing her more of me now, as it was when we first met. She sees the determination in my spirit. The love in my heart. And the humor I lack. But she gets me. We clip in, no issues. Yeah, we still slip and don’t connect right away sometimes, but we mutually know that we have to clip together to ride the journey, so we do.    I give her my everything, and she is as well.

Century. We get to the start of our journey. Golly, the first ten were scary and hard.  Life blew a sand storm quite literally at us; at one point we disconnected and unclipped from each other. We may be apart, but we still are by each other weathering the storm. We both had no idea that life was going to pelt us with pebbles. But after that ten, we got back in our groove and rode our journey.  And follower, it was brilliant. We meshed and felt each other’s jive. We excelled each of us pushing the other to that next milestone and being each other’s cheerleader on the way. Granted we took some time apart to rest and enjoy the journey from our own perspective (rest stops. She can’t join me in the porta potty), but we always joined back up. And follower, we did it and we finished together.

I would say follower, I love my Blanch. We are on a journey and met one milestone and have many more ahead of us. And though we will both change; clips, peddles, strength, posture and each of those changes may take a second to adjust too, I know that this is just the start to our incredible journey!