Brigitte posted a Facebook group for a Ladies’ ride, and I was all over it. I ride alone, or with Chris, or in a big mixed group that’s male-dominated. Finally a ride where we don’t have to handle testosterone!

I nearly missed it: stayed up too late (again!) and slept in a tad long. Chris decided to make oatmeal with orange juice (from our oranges), raisins and oatmeal. Great fuel…and I drove the 4 miles to the ride. That’s not my style but given my tight time-frame, that’s what happened.

I was the last of 4 to show up and while apologizing and berating myself my 3 friends were giving me grace. I accepted it. I was open to it and it was great. I loved starting a ride and feeling on top of the world.

We started off at a reasonable pace, because I was in front, the oldest, and the least willing to suffer early.  No one objected. Since A, B, and N ride primarily with male racers they really work hard to keep up, so my Old Lady Pace was a blessing. Actually, the moving average for me, over the entire 35. 1 miles was 17.2 mph, so we weren’t slacking, nor were we hammering.

We rode 2 abreast where we could and had great conversation, laughs, catching up with one another, and occasionally a chance to bridge up when we were single file and “someone” (ahem) fell behind a bit. We ate and spent too long at Steady Eddy’s playing with technology and taking/sharing selfies. And it worked! w00t!

I lead the ride back to the start, since I knew all the road names and we ended up with 31+ miles in 1:50. B & A got more because they rode to the ride (my intention) but not by much. What fun was that! I predict more Goils Only ridex in my future.  I should be so lucky. This was great fun!