beWARM

It was the perfect day for the first bike ride of the season. Blue skies, no wind, pleasant temperature.

We set out to ride our usual loop – enough hills to get a decent workout, with flat stretches in between to allow for enjoying the scenery.

Pedaling along was glorious.

At the first turn, we stopped for a water break. A female cyclist coming from the other direction also made the turn and ended up in front of my husband, Joey.

As we continued the ride,  he got further and further ahead. I didn’t think twice about it, as he is a faster rider to begin with.

However, the gap between us kept growing.

I looked ahead, wondering when he was going to pass that woman. Whew, he’s really zipping along, I thought.

Things weren’t quite right when I arrived at the intersection (6 miles later) where he always waits up for me – and  he was nowhere in sight.

My otherwise pleasant thoughts took a turn.

Why didn’t he stop and wait?

Is he trying to set some kind of speed record, or what?

I thought we were supposed to be riding together!

What if I were injured, laying on the side of the road –  he wouldn’t even know it!

Ashamedly, I briefly entertained the vengeful thought of just turning around and heading back home, but decided to forge on. I had to find him eventually, right?

Meanwhile…. 

Somehow, on that first turn, Joey must have been putting his water bottle back and thought that I was the one who passed him up, leading the way.

Here were his thoughts:

Wow, Toni is really booking it!  Good for her!

After a few miles:

What’s up with her trying to be the Alpha?  I can’t catch up!

She hasn’t even stopped once for water.

I thought we were supposed to be riding together, not racing!

The enjoyable, leisurely ride we each had envisioned was not transpiring.

And each of us started fuming about it.

What the heck is he/she thinking?  I’m really mad at him/her!

When the cyclist Joey had been following (who, by chance, was wearing a shirt similar to mine)turned and crossed the highway, he yelled, Toni, come back -You’re going the wrong way!

(Wonder what she was thinking?)

At that point he decided to stop and wait, figuring I would eventually realize my mistake and turn around.

I finally caught up to him.

Exasperated, he asked why I never stopped.

Incredulous, I asked the same question of him.

He then realized that it wasn’t me he had been following.

Why he failed to wait for me suddenly made sense.

We howled with laughter as we recounted our thought progressions during the course of the ride.

All of our “ticked-offness” dissipated into thin air, followed by more laughter… and happy hugs. (the best part!)

We hopped back onto our bikes, savoring the remainder of the ride….together.

Is there a moral to this story?

Well…I suppose that using the rear view mirror would have cleared up the matter of mistaken identity.

But then again…we wouldn’t have had so much fun laughing (and hugging!).

We would have missed the gift of having this amusing story to add to our memories.

And, the last part of the ride wouldn’t have been quite so special…

You may not remember the time you let me go first. 
Or the time you dropped back to tell me it wasn’t that far to go. 
Or the time you waited at the crossroads for me to catch up. 
You may not remember any of those, but I do and this is what I have to say to you: 
Today, no matter what it takes, 
we ride home together.”

~Brian Andreas, Traveling Light: Stories & Drawings for a Quiet Mind