A cycling love story

There is a lot of love in cycling. The people, the components, the framebuilders, the rides, etc.. Since this is a cycling BLOG this story has some cycling in it, but this isn't about cycling love, this is more a love story with cycling as a backdrop.

Tomorrow is my 9 year wedding anniversary, and I wanted to share with you the story of how I met my wife.

12 years ago I was cruising down to the grocery store, Raddy Bros (Radford Brothers) in Blacksburg, VA. Parking my bike in the bike rack. I met this guy with a mountain bike. His name was Steve. Steve is one of the guys that is just the nicest guys, and fun to ride with, but just spaz. Whenever we'd ride, he'd almost always be the one to crash. Following behind him you could just see it start to happen. He'd start to waver back and forth and then like a resonant wave his motioins would get bigger and bigger until, explosion and a crash. Some people are smooth riders, Steve was not.

But that fateful day I made his aquaintance at the grocery store. A few weeks later I was at a race. It was HOT, hot hot. Like 90s hot. And there was no shade anywhere. I brought like 1 or 2 water bottles and nothing extra. Started the race and was going along, and of course the inevitable happens. I dehydrate but then it gets worse. I pretty much was bordering on heat exhaustion / heat stroke. But I did finish, because when you're not very fast and have no chance of winning, sometimes the only thing you got is to finish. And finish I did a total wreck, pasty not sweating / clammy, and looking as white as someone of Indian ethnicity could possibly look.

While hanging out after the race in a total daze, I saw Steve in a group talking. In the group was the most incredible biker girl I'd ever seen. 4'10.5", brunette hair, cut legs, the cutest little Barracuda mountain bike. Normally, I'm a super shy person and there was no way I'd walk up to someone like that typically. But today I was not normal. Heat exhaustion must work like alchohol cause I saw Steve and said to myself that this is my in, and I just walked on up and started talking to him and then talking to her.

Her name was Karen, and she had just won her class. Later after we were boyfriend/girlfriend she had said that my nose was twitching which it often does when I am nervous.

We talked a long time, but I never got a phone number or anything. Know this, I said I was a shy person, I don't think I've ever gotten a phone # from anyone. A week or two later I was walking downtown from a class, and went past this restaurant, and this girl runs out and stops me. It was Karen. On the spot we made plans to go on a ride.

The day comes and the storm clouds are looming like a typical late summer day here. We decide to go out anyway, and go onto Brush Mountain, and it started to pour cats and dogs, and we were just having a ball. I showed her how to ride this one switchback, it was so cool. And later that night we went out for a beer.

She met me at my place and I will forever remember seeing her walk into my house. Jean shorts, and a black top, and legs like only a cyclist has. We went to the Cellar to get a beer and talked a long time.

And so the story goes. 9 years marriage, two kids, and we still both ride. Cycling brought us together, and yes cycling can be a sore point, but cycling is somethinig our family does together and hopefully will be with us and our kids for a long time.

Thank you cycling, thank you Steve, thank you heat exhaustion.

Happy Anniversary honey!