Ugh.
My worst sport in the triathalon world. It should be simple, right? Just push one foot in front of the other...
Wrong. So very , very wrong.
My long rides have been mostly on the bike path, due to it's nice straight and mostly flat surface. I am not very confident on the bike, especially changing gears and going down hills (road rash fear), so I have not allowed myself to be pushed to much in that area.
I have a girlfriend, though, who is an awesome biker (bikess? bike rider? ). My hard rides are her easy ones, and she has even traveled to France with her husband- not to go shopping and sip champagne. Nope. They toured the country on bicycles, even riding in some areas where the Tour de France runs through.
Today I rode with her for my long ride of the week- about an hour and a half. This was the first time I had ridden with anyone except my husband- and he rides so much faster than me it can't really be said that we ride "together". Today was my friend's recovery day (she rides 20-30 miles a day!!) so she was more than happy to let me set the pace and follow along.
I was admittedly a little nervous at first, knowing my fast pace would seem like a walk in the park for her. But as it turns out, it was my best ride yet- in several ways.
She took us off the bike path, down through the southern part of town that is beautiful and full of nature. We hit our first hill, and she suggested that I "gear down" because I was working too hard.
I absolutely agreed on the working too hard part, but since I was out of breath I couldn't immediately tell her that I didn't know how to gear down any lower. I have never ventured out of the gears on the right side of my handlebars, as I get confused and have been afraid I would lose the chain or crash.
She pulled up beside me and worked with me on how to change my gears, and- lo and behold- I WAS working too hard! Suddenly, I could get up a hill without my legs absolutely screaming at me, allowing me to push much harder throughout the overall bike ride. I usually "bonk" after 45 minutes and feel toasted, but today still had energy left after 90 minutes when we got home. This is so important in triathalon because you are faced with a 3 mile run once you get off the bike...
We missed a turn and got a teensy bit lost, but used the opportunity to stop, eat a snack, and gab a little while we checked our GPS. She gave me some more helpful hints about gearing and caring for my bike, then we took off for the second leg of the journey.
We made one more stop before getting back home, again mixing bike talk and girl talk. I couldn't believe how much that one ride with her had helped me, and thanked her again for all her help and patience. At one point she even asked me, "Why didn't you just call me when you had questions?"
I don't know.
Stupidity? Ignorance? Pride?
Why did I have such trouble asking for help when it only lived one mile away?
I learned a hard lesson today. I think the older we get, the more trouble we have starting something new that we haven't done before. And once we start, we aren't as apt to ask others for advice. I mean, what have you done lately that is new and adventurous? We have such capacity as humans to learn- we should take more advantage of it! We let our fear of embarrassment or looking foolish get in the way! Take a cooking class, or learn how to crochet. Take a ballroom dance class, or even learn to scuba dive. Have you ever ridden a horse? Played golf? There is so much out there in the world, much more than what you can learn on Facebook or Instagram...
Today's pic represents learning that it's ok not to be good at everything and to have someone help you. Don't hold yourself back from new experiences or getting better at something just because you don't want to look or feel stupid. Most people are more than happy to share their knowledge and help someone else along. So go learn or do something new and/or uncomfortable- you may be surprised at how good you feel afterward, even if you wind up looking a little bit awkward :).
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