The other night DH and I went mountain biking at a nearby Boy Scout camp that lets hikers and cyclists use their land on the off season. They have some really nice, challenging trails of about 20+ total miles.

I was the ONLY woman out there. I know Limewave rides there, too. But I have a tough time finding other noobie women to ride with. I don't get a lot of opportunities to ride with DH (childcare is an issue) and I refuse to ride alone. I'm VERY much a novice and VERY crash-prone. I have nightmares of becoming incapacitated and leaving my child with a seriously injured or dead mother. So that keeps me from progressing at mountain biking. My DH, on the other hand, just returned from a week in Moab and Fruita. He has no qualms about riding alone.

I don't have quite the same level of apprehension riding my road bike alone, but I still don't enjoy it nearly as much as riding with others and I do worry about being miles from home, on rural roads, and having a major mechanical or encountering creeps. I know it causes me to swap a lot of rides for runs or cut my rides shorter than I might otherwise. I also contend with boredom on solo rides. After about 90 minutes I can't stand myself anymore.