I get by with a little help from my friends...

Just like in life, good friends made the road much easier.  This is just as true with biking.

When this past spring rolled around and I was getting out more and more on my bike, I knew it was time to try and find others to ride with.  When I lived in Mason City, I had never really been a part of group rides.  Much of this was due to my fear of slowing other riders down and my work schedule - in the summer it was easier for me to do longer rides in the morning or early afternoon, then at night due to meetings.  So I had a few friends that I would ride with from time to time, but mostly rode on my own.

So once I was in Dubuque, I knew I needed to get in with a bike club.  If not to meet other riders, but also to figure out where to go riding and how to conquer these things that we didn't have much of in North Iowa - hills.  So I went to my LBS (Little Bike Shop) downtown - Bicycle World - and learned about the Dubuque Bike Club and was able to make one of their Tuesday night group rides.  I knew going into it that it would be hard - and it was!!  But the best part of the ride was the support that you received from other riders letting you know that you were doing a good job and it would only get easier, without these helpful words I think I would have been done after that ride.  But knowing that someone is there, wanting to see you be successful makes you crank a little harder.

Unforchantly, my work schedule got in the way of me continuing to ride on Tuesdays with the Dubuque Club, but I was able to find another group of casual women riders.  My landlord, Dave, had "friend suggested" me on Facebook to Marge who in turn invited me for a ride on the Heritage Trail for ladies only.  This trail is crushed limestone and is a Rail-to-Trail, which basically means it was a old railroad route that had been turned into a recreational trail (love these!).  I came out for the ride with my mountain bike and met a handful of other ladies and together went on a great ride that ended at the Handle Bar in Durango that had great Bloody Marys and pizza and ended up being full of lady laughter.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind biking with guys, but sometimes it just a little nicer when it is only the girls.  We tend to be more ok with the occasional bathroom break and can talk more openly about the fact that bike shorts might be the only black clothing item that is really not that slimming.  From this ride, I also met my friend Gayle, who I have been able to get to know even better every time we get together.  And now this group of ladies (The Happy Hip Chicks) try and get together each month to go for a ride and to share a laugh.

The first ride with the Happy Hip Chicks

Shortly after riding with The Happy Hip Chicks, I decided to join a beginners ride on Monday nights offered by another LBS in town - Free Flight.  Now don't let the beginner status fool you, these folks could ride.  It was mostly a lot of younger riders (late 20s-40s) who had either just bought their first road bike or have been riding for a few seasons and needed to get back into cycling shape (this was my category).  Ironically, I actually knew a few people on the ride when I got there. Kim, who I had met through her sister who volunteers for the Relay For Life of Jones County, and Eric, who I had met through my friend Beth and was in the Jaycees.  Because of each of them had brought a friend with, our circle began to grow before we even got on our bikes.  This ride, again, was hard but yet fun at the same time because you had someone to talk to and help push you up those darn Dubuque hills.

Eric then invited myself and his friend Chris to come and ride with his dad's group that rides on Thursday nights - the Spokey Folks (if you can't tell I LOVE fun bike club names).  This group of veteran riders were so much fun to be around.  The kept a social pace and knew so much about where we were riding and the land around it.  But one of the best parts was after the ride had ended, because this group believed in one of my favorite activities of all time - hosting a potluck.  Everyone brought a dish/snack/dessert to share and stories continued to be swapped over beers and pickle dip.  It now has become my driving force during those final miles of our Thursday ride - just knowing that a cold beer and a sweet snack was waiting for you makes it all worth it.

Now that I was bouncing between Monday and Thursday night rides, Chris, Eric and I broke out and started doing some of our own rides as a group on the weekends.  I truly have enjoyed getting to know both of them while on the road and afterwards.  Eric has turned into the route map director by figuring out routes that are not only fun and challenging to ride, but also have history and maybe a Beagle or two.  Chris has become our cheerleader; he is that guy that flies by you as you are starting to climb telling you to keep pushing and is always at the stop cheering you on as you finally make it over the top.    Chris even came up with the idea to start our own club, appropriately named "The Flat Iowa Society" since everyone seems to think Iowa has no hills.  And together as a group we know that regardless if it is only 52 degrees on a July ride that has rain and wind, riding with the both of them always guarantees a belly full of laughs and lots of stories to be shared.

You see in life, there are times when we just want to find people who like to do what we do.  Not only so that you don't have to do it alone, but also to have friends to share in the stories, laughs, and especially to help out with the road gets hilly.  They are the people that encourage us to push harder but to also enjoy the view around you - they make the ride so much better.  And it is when you are truly surrounded by a great group of friends that you completely forget that you are even climbing whatever hill you may be facing and learn to sit back enjoy the ride.   

The view from a Saturday morning ride with Eric and Chris