Ride alone...ride with friends.

This week I remembered something I didn't even know I had forgotten.  I found something that I didn't really know was lost.  Kind of like finding twenty bucks in your jeans pocket.  Sweet. 

I get up with the mailman and I most likely go to bed before your kids.  In between I'm what you'd call pretty busy.  I have learned to run and ride whenever it works best for me.  Last year, while training for the BC Bike Race my rides got longer and longer and my riding buddies got fewer and fewer.  Out of necessity, just as I slipped into solo trail running, I soon discovered the beautiful selfish solitude of riding alone.  Since those first few forced rides I have learned to love riding alone in the woods.  

On these solo rides my mind weaves, my wheels wander and my pace is set by my breathe alone.  Sometimes I crave big beats or rolling rhythms and I feel the need to plug in.  Other times I want nothing but the sweet sound of dirt shifting under my tires and I keep my ears wide open.  Selfishly I ride what I want when I want and go as hard or slow or short or far as I want.  It's quiet time for a busy mind and it fills me up every time.

I had gotten so used to riding alone that I nearly forgot why I used to ride with friends...

This week I remembered.  

Little smiles get bigger.  Silent whoops are let loose.  Flowy trail stoke is magnified.  Weaknesses are challenged.  Strengths are highlighted.   Old friendships are nurtured.  New ones are sewn.  Memories are shared...

Ride alone.  Ride with friends.  It's all good.  

Ride on, friends;)

SS