It stormed yesterday, add that to killer cramps and there was no way I was getting off the couch. I went out this morning instead. I only did a very short ride (less than a mile) but I had to be back, and I have no patience for doing short loops many times. I just went around the north side of campus, using the walkways. (Sunday morning, so no one was out, it's apparently legal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in Ohio, and it's a college campus, so no one cares.) I went to the library and back. I keep forgetting how pretty this side of campus is. It's a beautiful day--mid 70s, sunny. There are lots of trees, so the paths are shaded. Best part? There are a couple of older churches in the area, and one of them backs onto that part of campus. I had found my groove, and as I zipped by the church, I realized it had the bells going. They were playing "Ode to Joy." That made me smile.
When I got back, my computer informed me that it is possible to be doing 79 mph on a bicycle in an elevator...then it ate all my numbers. Oh well.



As for the boyfriend:
I think he's trying to be helpful, but going about it in the wrong way. To him, this stuff is intuitive, and he doesn't quite get it that I need to actually learn this stuff. He thinks I need a coach--I don't. I'll take suggestions from him, but I need to figure out all this stuff on my own. What he wants is to get me to a point where we can do long rides together. I'd be happy to, if he didn't try to push me to that point while I'm still getting used to the road bike. His heart's in the right place, though. As for the sitting on my back wheel, he's probably not that close, just feels like it. I'm still getting used to the brakes, so it's a bit of self-preservation on his part.
I do tease him about the team kit, though. He used to (before I met him) have the Team Once jersey, socks, helmet...heck, even his old bike (OCR3) was yellow and black. I tease him about it--playing dress-up, was he? He looks like a large bumblebee in the jersey, so I dread to think what he looked like in the entire getup. Maybe I'll ask his mom if she's got pictures. Knowing her, she'll probably show me if she does.
He doesn't really care what I go out in, provided I'm wearing gloves and a helmet. It's just my being associated with someone who looks like he knows what he's doing makes people think that I know what I'm doing.