Dear So and So

[lovelygamer]

Dear Bike Gods: Teach me well this summer, before I keel off my bike cycling in the hot sun.

Dear Body: Please note that from last week on out through the summer, I am going to cycle 30+ per week and you could damn sure help me out on the scale since I am seriously overweight. OKAY?

Dear Boyfriend: Please stop worrying that I am going to be that 100 lbs super wiry and energetic cyclist lady we saw at breakfast last week (who you have now dubbed "crazy bike lady").

It'll never happen because yes, I like a challenge and yes I'm into getting fit but 1) I'm too lazy to be energetic about a 30 mile ride at 8 a.m. on a Saturday 2) my body type is curvy, not petite so I will never be wiry, nor 100 lbs. Lastly, dear boyfriend please don't hate me if I do get a little crazy about cycling. I kinda do like it.

Thank You Very Much

[Eden]

...... that 100 lbs super wiry and energetic cyclist lady we saw at breakfast last week (who you have now dubbed "crazy bike lady").

hmmmm I resemble that remark..... interesting to know that make me a candidate for crazy

[lovelygamer]

hmmmm I resemble that remark..... interesting to know that make me a candidate for crazy

I didn't mean harm, that's just HIS opinion as a non-cyclist. I don't think anyone with a passion is crazy. Serious cyclist inspire me, even as a non-competitive person.

[malkin]

Crazy isn't necessarily bad, and to me anyway, it isn't a synonym for 'mentally ill.'

[Owlie]

Eh, any one of us could be labeled "crazy" by non-cyclists.

Also, boys are weird. I've heard a number of friends say that their boyfriends freaked out when they started exercising. "Noooo! I don't want you to be all muscley!" I don't know where it comes from, but it's silly.

[Crankin]

My "regular" friends think I am "crazy." I just laugh. They could tolerate me going to the gym and even working there, but cycling? It was OK for my son and DH. When I started cycling, they thought I was nuts and putting myself at risk. Too hard and dangerous.
What guys think muscles are weird? Is this a younger generation thing? The old guys in my riding group like women with muscles....

[malkin]

...
What guys think muscles are weird? Is this a younger generation thing? The old guys in my riding group like women with muscles....

Wasn't this also value in the late 19th- early 20th century? Once my grandmother got mechanized cooking, cleaning and laundry technology, she barely had to move anymore, and society saw that as a good thing.

So for the younger generation to flirt with it--I guess it is about time.

[indysteel]

My "regular" friends think I am "crazy." I just laugh. They could tolerate me going to the gym and even working there, but cycling? It was OK for my son and DH. When I started cycling, they thought I was nuts and putting myself at risk. Too hard and dangerous.
What guys think muscles are weird? Is this a younger generation thing? The old guys in my riding group like women with muscles....

I don't see it as a generational thing or as something with historical roots (although maybe that explains it in some cultures). Rather, I think a lot of men, and people in general, are resistant to change, especially change that stands to highlight their own issues. How many people out there would prefer their partner remain overweight and out-of-shape because that enables them to stay the same way? I can also imagine that many men are threatened when their wives start getting in shape, for fear that they might leave or attract added attention from other men. I'm generalizing this to men, but I'm sure there are women who fear the same things.

I also think there are plenty of men--and women--who perceive muscular women to be less feminine. We at TE may realize the stupidity in such notions, but they persist regardless.

Even within healthy and evolved body attitudes, I think there's room for respectful differences of opinion. I prefer to look toned and lean, rather than really muscular. Not that I could achieve the latter, but I'm not after a bodybuilder's body for myself...but I respect the right of others to pursue the body they desire for themselves.

[lovelygamer]

Eh, any one of us could be labeled "crazy" by non-cyclists.

Also, boys are weird. I've heard a number of friends say that their boyfriends freaked out when they started exercising. "Noooo! I don't want you to be all muscley!" I don't know where it comes from, but it's silly.

Yep, my boy is one of those too. He likes girls that are curvy and soft. To each his own, as they say.

[limewave]

Yep, my boy is one of those too. He likes girls that are curvy and soft. To each his own, as they say.

DH likes me curvy and soft. Which is awesome. Part of me feels really "fat" when I line up next to the sinewy, lithe women at races. But DH is constantly affirming my physique . . .

[marni]

hmmmm I resemble that remark..... interesting to know that make me a candidate for crazy

oh didn't you know that we are all in here for insanity not stupidty.