A Letter to My Neglected Road Bike

Dear Ms. Light,

I know you've been wondering where I've been the last 3 weeks.  All those Tuesday and Thursday mornings you waited, expecting me to pump up your tires and take you out the back door for the Unemployment Ride.  Instead I'd grab a small gym bag with Tae Kwon Do gear and leave without you.  Then there were those Saturdays and Sundays that I was not working that you would wait patiently for me.  However I'd stumble by you at 9:30 am having just gotten up, and brought in the newspapers.  Later on you might see me with the gym bag, or on some days you'd see me peeling off layers of snow covered garments. You're probably thinking to yourself, "There she goes again, ditching me for another sport."

No, no it's nothing like that at all. Yes, I'm doing Tae Kwon Do and I'll be testing for my next Black Belt in November.  But I've not given up cycling.  After all I'm planning to do the Lake Tahoe Century with Team in Training again.  I can't be neglecting my cycle training when I'm planning to ride 100 miles on June 7th. So what's the deal with all those missed mornings?  You're also probably wondering why you see me taking cycling clothing out of the washer and taking it upstairs to dry.

I have a confession to make.  I've been seeing another bike. Yes, I admit it! I've been cheating on you. No, I have not been going out with Blue Bayou. Winter is not the time to be cruising around on my tri-bike.  That will come later.   You've never seen the bike or the people I've been riding with.  This brutal winter weather has caused me to go over to the dark side.  Yes, I've been hanging out with the beautiful people in their cute tank tops and colorful tights.  Yes, those type of people that I see going in and out of Soul Cycle in Greenwich, CT  Yes, those people that Lisa and I make fun of while she's massaging the hell out of my cranky joints.  However I'm not at Soul Cycle in Greenwich. I'm at Flywheel Sports in Scarsdale.

Rest assured I've had not totally gone to the dark side.  No cutesy tops and tights for me.  Regular cycling shorts and a run or tri top.  Also I do compete in class by having my stats show up on the torq board.  I've yet to have the top score yet.  The best I've done so far is 2nd.  It's all about power and there are bigger and younger women who take these classes.  Just maybe before this temporary affair is done, I'll be able to beat all the ladies.  I wonder how they'd do outside in the cold?

Dearest Ms. Light, bear with me.  Once Mother Nature stops being such a witch you and I will be together again.  We'll go out with the boys and cruise up Rte. 22. We'll go climb some hills and hang with the pack.  Understand that I need to hang out with Fly so that I can be ready for the peloton.  You wouldn't want me to embarrass myself by getting spit off the back before the Kensico Dam because I wasn't doing any training?  Fly will never be as dear to me as you are.  She doesn't know that I will be ditching her as soon as Mother Nature allows me to. 

Enjoy the warmth of the house while you can.  Sooner or later I'll be looking for you to join me on the road again.

Love,

Your roadie girl Polly