Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Stranger Danger!

 
Today I did something I swore I would never EVER do! I rode with a "stranger"! I had a reader email me over 2 weeks ago! She told me how she liked my blog how she has lost a crazy amount of weight and wanted to get into cycling!  I responded and told her I would love to ride with her and to pick a date and I would meet her to ride. . . We BOTH were freaked about meeting each other! However we picked a VERY public place to meet.  Either she was lucky I wasn't a crazy psycho or I was lucky she wasn't! 
 It ended up being safe but hey I had 911 pre-dialed on my cell phone! ;) 

It was awesome we rode 20 miles together and were able to chat lots about our families, favorite foods, workouts and just life! I was so excited someone wanted to get into cycling! It is something that I have loved and would spend every minute on my bike if I didn't have responsibilities!  I loved seeing a new rider find the same passion I have for riding! I would have taken a picture of us but I didn't want to "creep" her out! I am sure we will have many more rides together. I went from stranger danger to a new cycling buddy in no time at all!

 Soooooo would you ride with a "stranger"?
Have you ridden with a stranger?
Or do you think I am down right CRAZY?! (Well wait, don't answer that one!)

 *Images found via google images.

30 comments:

Adalita said...

We go on social rides with our local club - there are always new people who come along. We have invited friends of friends riding too. I suppose I never thought of any stranger danger type things happening.

Patrick Mahoney said...

I've ridden with strangers that I've just met, maybe it's windy and we are at the same place at the same time and we'll take turns pulling, but that's about it. New follower BTW, your story and efforts are incredible!!

Clive Chapman said...

I've ridden with 3 blokes who I've "met" via my blog, they're absolutely crushingly fine fellows to a man.

I think we live in an age unfortunately where every stranger is considered and axe wielding psycho or a child rapist.

In my experience people are generally very nice and friendly. I'm glad you took a chance and discovered the same! :-)

Donna said...

I have never ridden with a stranger just by myself but always do ride with people I don't know at the Monday night group ride.

I did, however, invite a family I met on line to my house to stay before. This was after years of chatting on line and via phone. She was from AZ and she flew out with her 2 children and stayed with me for 4 days. It was wonderful! We had a great time and we are still friends to this day.

FLATOUT JIM said...

Remember, even your very best good friend was a stranger at one point.

Not everyone on the net is a perv!

Alanna said...

I would try out running/cycling with a stranger I think! Although it may sound silly but it would have to be a fellow lady :) I don't know if i'd feel comfortable meeting up with a random dude, neither would my boyfriend for that matter lol

As long as you're street smart like you were I think it's a great idea!

Anonymous said...

i've run with "strangers" before. i've never felt awkward about it and i've never met up with someone without "knowing" them for a while and emailing back and forth. it's always been a positive experience for me

KovasP said...

Not sure how I feel about meeting a stranger. I've run with some people I happened to meet, but that's about it.

ty said...

It COULD be scary, but as long as people knew where you were and who you were meeting (and that handy-dandy pre-dialed 911), I think it was just fine. And everything turned out okay!

d.a.r. said...

I would freaking love to have someone nearby who is more experienced at riding than I am to take me out for a long ride, show me the ropes, etc. How awesome of you!!

*and glad you didn't get chopped into tiny pieces somewhere :)

Unknown said...

I did that we step aerobics once. It worked out, we had a good time!

mCat said...

Meeting blog friends in real life is the funnest ever! I ususally find that they are exactly everything I expected and have made life long friends that way.

So, no your not crazy and yes, I meet strangers all the time!

Pedaling said...

I think we should have a bloggy cyclist meet up sometime!

I'd ride with a stranger like you, any day!

MaryFran said...

Actually yes, I have. About a year ago a gal that I met through blogs and I hooked up and rode together. Yes, we were both extremely nervous. We live a little too far away to do it often (ok, hours apart), but we try to hook up a few times a year!

Jess said...

I would DEFINITELY ride with strangers! Cycle, cars, couchsurf. Yep. I'm a fan.

It's a great way to meet people, and I've decided that most people are just afraid of you as you are of them.

I hitchhiked a bunch in Thailand and Laos, and nothing is as interesting as riding with a bunch of locals in the back of their pick-up truck. A bit scary, maybe at first. But it's such an eye-opening, learning experience :)

Glad you had fun!

Wendy said...

Not crazy at all. Heck, I hope someday *I* can meet you and cycle or something. ;-)

funderson said...

yes...yes and YES! Most strangers are wonderful friends you just haven't met yet..

The Green Girl said...

Aw, I'm glad you had a good time and got to meet someone new!

Jen said...

Sounds like you had it covered just in case...but glad you meet a new riding buddie.

LB said...

this is how i met my best running buddy, complete stranger that i met through an online mommy group. im a little skiddish too about meeting strangers, but im so glad i did it. now i have a wonderful running bud!!!

Connie said...

I've had dinner with strangers. But then I feel safe because I'm in a public restaurant eating and not on a long, lonely road, exhausted from biking! But then it ends up those strangers become great friends!

Good for you for finding another cycling buddy! Glad she wasn't a psycho!

:Deliciously Healthy said...

LOL! Glad you had a fun ride, and met a new riding buddy! And that you're still here to tell us about it. I kid, I kid ;)

gayle said...

Haven't been on a bike in years!! So no probably not!! Glad you had a great time!

Heather said...

I went biking with a guy I met on the internet. I was pretty nervous about it, but it turned out pretty good. We rode a couple more times...then he went a little weird on me, but not while biking :)

Christina said...

hahah stranger danger!! so glad you guys were both normal! :)

CommuterGirl said...

I had a weird experience on my commute in L.A. Started with a seemingly friendly guy saying how he liked our bikes and progressed to him riding with us to him starting to creep us out a little bit, then he kept mentioning how he wished he could have our bikes, tires etc, then finally it culminated in him asking for money. Could have gotten a little out of hand, thank goodness it didn't. I had a false sense of security in that my commuter buddy is a fairly big guy, but we were both taken in and now the guy knows our commute. We change it up now and again based on that. Anyway - have to be smart, especially in a city like L.A. - btw - Love your blog!
CommuterGirl
www.commutergrl.blogspot.com
www.commutergirl.net

Unknown said...

I met a girl through Twitter that was from my city to run around the river. It was day light on a public bridge. She was awesome. You do have to be careful but its always fun meeting new people.

Hello*Pretty said...

Sometimes it's good to take a risk. Looks like this one panned out. Yay! xo- karrie
www.hellopretty.net (enter my gift card giveway)

Dan O said...

As you'll discover, cycling is a super social sport - people get together to ride all the time.

So yeah, I've meet up with people for rides that I didn't know otherwise. I've also ridden with groups of people, 'cause I knew one of 'em - cool way to link together groups of friends.

Evalinn said...

I never have, but I think you did it the right way and I´m glad you enjoyed it!

I am so inspired by your pics and blog, just happened to pass by it the other day. I´m trying to sort out myself and get my weight back to a healthy level, and this kind of inspiration is great! Thank you for sharing.