Will power: Declining 1 ride for another

Friday afternoon’s pedal was beautiful (well the half I pedaled, but I get ahead of myself here). The weather Friday was perfect, 61, no wind, clear! I graciously (bravely?) declined a ride for the bike & I, 1/2way. Things started off great. I am learning to use the brakes & time the lights.. .So I don’t have to put my feet down!!(This feels like a great accomplishment as I Whoop, thru my second intersection!)

1/3 of the way I pass a fancy cyclist with his skinny tires & logoed jersey (maybe from the TAMU cyclist team?). He nods, legs spinning as we exchange a passing,”Howdy”. Next up is the wire-haired dashund & his mum. I exchange a grin with her over the dandy cuteness of her K9 friend. This isn’t bad!

At ½ way, I almost jump off my seat. I am pedaling all out on the flat spot!( this is the scary area of the ride because it is like a narrow county road with no bike line & the sealcoat is terrible with craters & hilly patch jobs of assorted questionable substrates.) A 1-ton diesel dually whips past me honking, and then swerves over in front of me. A friend, determined to rescue me. Seeing no gracious way to decline the ‘kindness’, I load my bike, grab the ‘oh shit’ handle & clamber up. 30 Minutes later, I am still glumly sitting in the truck, as she just had to make 1 stop.... I could have been home by now.

How do you graciously decline rides from well meaning friends… Yet convince them to offer a car-ride when the weather is vile?

After 2 weeks of this pedaling 3 days per week, I am beginning to be able to breathe… and it’s a tad exhilarating. All I can think is how amazing the human body really is: Mine in no way resembles an athletes’, yet even in its overly upholstered condition, after only 2 weeks of pedaling (and an hour off the bike), my legs are fine, & my lungs are catching up.