Follow the Leader, or 100 Miles for What?

Dear Reader,

I quit coffee about a year ago.  If you ask me why, I’ll most often respond by saying it’s a healthy choice, the spike and fall in energy was getting to me, or something of the like. The real reason is that my wife (Fit Lesbian) woke up one day and said she was quitting, and I followed suit. There was no underlying reason on my part, and it wasn’t until about 3 weeks later that I bothered to ask her why. I don’t remember the reason she gave, but the point is I’m a bit of a follower.

Approximately the same storyline repeated itself recently which resulted in the purchase of my first road bike – a 44 inch Bianchi Via Naroni 7 Dama 105, or as I like to call her, Bivnard.  

 (Fat Lesbian, Bivnard, & Chubby Puppy)

I don’t know if any of you have experienced this in your relationships, but Fit Lesbian and I have always struggled to find a recreational athletic activity that we could enjoy together. 

The following is a list of sports we have tried together, and the reasons they did not work out:

1.)  Yoga: A passion of Fit Lesbian’s for over a decade. I practiced for about a year, got to a really tough place which led to a hormonally induced crying fit on my mat, and never went back.

2.)    Boxing: This was a Groupon related incident which ended with me giggling involuntarily every time I got hit, and Fit Lesbian being exceedingly frustrated with my lack of discipline. Plus, the gym smelled awful, so we quit.

3.)    Rock Climbing: Given the most basic knowledge of weights and counter-weights, this sport deeply terrified me.

4.)    Running: We began together, Fit Lesbian injured herself, recovered, and was then able to out-pace me. I ran a 5K, then quit grumbling about not running together so what was the point, etc.

5.)    Zumba: Fit Lesbian will only go to classes, but feels silly and like she has no rhythm. I will only play on the Wii and totally have rhythm. Once again, the stars do not align.

6.)    Pogo Stilting: I refused.

Enter road cycling, the perfect storm for couple sports. You can spend time together, alternate pushing yourself with cruising along and chatting, you can plan your trip around food related destinations, you both get a healthy dose of endorphins, and when you are done, you sleep like you are dead (not the living dead or undead, the dead dead)!

We have set a goal for ourselves: ride a century (a 100 mile bike ride) for a good cause. Tomorrow we are taking our first serious ride to start training, a 40 mile loop around some of the suburbs of Boston.

I’ll be posting on how things went so stay tuned, and wish us luck!

Sincerely,

Fat Lesbian