What's the most shallow reason to be with someone? For their looks? For their money? Because they have cool friends? Because their pedal stroke is just soooooo smooth and sexy?
If you think about it, when you're riding behind someone in a peleton, there are only three things you can judge: (1) the size of the derriere (2) the type of bike and clothes (3) the quality of bike handling and pedal stroke. Height is definitely difficult to pinpoint. I know I'm not the only girl who's had this experience: you're riding along next to a cute guy, having a great conversation, and you're thinking: "this guy is really cute, and we're having a great conversation." You wonder if he has a girlfriend and, if not, the guts to ask you out. You round a corner, pull into the convenient store, get off your bike, and accidentally bump into this very same guy because you were looking right over the top of his head. Height is definitely out.
But the quality of the pedal stroke tells you something. It tells you how good he is at cycling. If it's smooth, he's good; If he understands finesse on the bike, it might carry over to finesse off the bike.
Alright here it goes:
I was home in Orlando after nationals. I was pretty burnt-out, so I decided to take the "do whatever I feel like doing" approach to training. I did one of the local group rides, and ended up behind this guy who had the most fluid pedal stroke I've ever seen. Before I knew it, I was going on all the group rides just so I could sit on his wheel and drool (yes, I'm a nerd). Did he ever notice how I followed him around the peleton? But it was more than that. When I was on his wheel, I felt like nothing bad could ever happen to me. The fluidity was calming. I was safe.
It wasn't long before he asked me out on a date. With a pedal stroke like that, how could I say no? He picked me up at my house, and we went out for dinner. First impression: his car definitely wasn't as sexy as his bike. With regular clothes on, I almost didn't recognize him. Was this really the same guy? Walking was an awkward task for him, like he didn't know what to do with his feet when they weren't attached to pedals.
We went to a fairly nice place with dim lights and a nice wine list. We talked, but we didn't have much in common outside of cycling. I spent the majority of the evening trying to figure out if he shaved his head just to shave it or to cover up the early onset of male pattern baldness. The lights were dim and I'd only ever seen him with a helmet on.
We went out twice and, needless to say, nothing ever came of it. Actually, he turned out to be kinda creepy. Even so, I'll never forget his pedal stroke. So, tip to the guys: if you wanna score points with a female cyclist (or me, at least), work on your one-legged drills.
There's a lot less laundry to do when I'm not going through a kit or two a day.
I have time for TV! Check out my awesome setup.
I've also found that I'm addicted to accelerating. When I can't touch my bike, I develop this yearning to race something, ANYTHING! This is what I got a hold of...
My father is having a heart attack right about now. So, dad, I've been meaning to ask you, I know I'm not allowed to ride on motorcycles with boys, but you never said anything about me driving it myself ;-)
