A bit OT - Climbing after a fall.

[mtbdarby]

Grogs, hugs to you girlfriend. What a great step in starting the healing process by sharing with your friends here that understand.

I thought I had met the man of my dreams this winter. We both thought we were the one and Bam - he walked out. I wanted to get back into biking and he's a mtb'er but I refused to not get into it because of him. We haven't talked in 3 months and I literally ran into him last Thursday after my ride. We talked for about 20 minutes, and as much as I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me up, I stood there and talked. I was so proud of myself for not running or crying but it was hard. I may not be truely "over" him yet, but I am moving on and you will too. As luck would have it, one of the guys on my team for my upcoming race stopped by to chat this weekend and ended up talking for 6 hours! When he left he turned around and planted one on me! Talk about surprised, but he thinks it's great he finally found a good woman who likes to bike (hard to argue that, right?!). Of course, now I don't want to mess things up for my race because right now, that's more important to me, lol. My point, it may surprise you when you meet another guy but you will. And he'll be damn lucky to have found you. Be true to yourself and don't give up the things you enjoy for anyone. Remember, this too shall pass.

Leftie, you're amazing! Thanks for sharing your story - that's not always an easy thing to do. God bless you in your battle and we're here for you if you ever need us. I just got divorced from an alcoholic so I probably have a different perspective but I respect the strides you've made and am cheering you on!

You Go Girls! What an amazing group of ladies on this board. I am honored to be a part of it....

[bikerchick68]

Lefty- so, so proud of you! way to go on turning your life around!!!

GROG, I've been there too... I was married and my now-exhusband walked out last year, divorce finalized last December... any and all physical activity saved me... I cycled, I walked, I went to the gym... anything to burn off that nervous energy... my friends were there for me but not one of them has ever gone thru a divorce so they couldn't always understand what I was feeling...

as to dating... yeah, it can intimidate some guys... they find out I ride a bike and say things like, "Oh, we should go for a ride sometime, I have a bike!" and then ask how far I ride etc... I don't hide who I am but sometimes now I just answer that we'll ride however far they want to go and leave it at that so far I haven't dated any one man long enough for it to be a problem...

I agree tho, to give yourself time to heal first, before you date again... work your way thru the grieving process and be gentle with yourself... know that you can go back and forth thru the stages of grieving, including anger, denial, bargaining, depression etc... allow it to happen in a healthy way and when the anger part hits keep an eye on your avg mph! WOOT! I suddenly got REAL fast!! LOL... take care and keep us posted on ho you're doing OK? hugs...