Tulip, I got into cycling in Richmond. It was a February and I'd called a fellow for dinner to thank him for helping me teach a guitar class, and his obviously no-longer-ex answered his phone, and I thought "it's time to meet new people!"

That Saturday, I went on the Ashland Breakfast Club ride. I called the leader (they rotate every week - you sign up to lead one Saturday and do the sign-up sheet and help people connect)... showed up Saturday and he looks at my hybrid and looks at me and says "how fast do you go?" and I said "I don't know," and he points at this group of folks and says "they go your speed."

They did! We rode out to Hardee's where everybody literally regroups and decides how far they're *really* going. Our group ended up going 42 miles but at no point was I in the back of the group. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have been amazed because they could have dropped me in a heartbeat. Instead there was lots of talk about cycling and the sights theyh'd seen and the meals they'd had, and the idea taht if cycling was so much fun, why did some people want to get it over with as soon as possible?

Dang it, I just checked the website and *today's* leader is Rickey Davis - one of thsoe guys. Oops, I gotta go send him a late CHristmas card ... http://www.raba.org/ is the club site.