Drillium Dude 

Grady, you're absolutely right! For men or women, having a partner who enjoys the passions of the other is a good - a great - thing.

Nowadays I'm doing well, actually; I'm hoping my story sounded more a recap of facts than a harangue I'm not obsessing about it. It is what it is and what's the use of lamenting about "what ifs", right?

Right!

Life most definitely goes on.

DD

mixtemaniac

Compatible interests, hobbies, obsessions, time-wasters, whatever you want to call them are important to relationships. Dare I say even necessary to sustain healthy relationships? Good luck out there.

Sixty Fiver

If it was not for a shared love of cycling The Girl and I would not have met... like me she is car free commuter and utilitarian cyclist, and rides everywhere.

Since we met she has gained a vintage Peugeot Mixte and a Raleigh 20 folder.

I hope to make my living building bicycles and she supports and encourages that... love it when she spends time in the shop with me and she is really a people person, highly organized, and she knows bikes.

We balance each other well and I will have to talk to her about that nightie and bourbon thing... but then... I'd get less done in the bike shop.

When I asked her to marry me, (because you can't let someone so perfect get away), she said that she did not want an engagement ring... but said a custom tandem would be nice. She is not a long distance cyclist (yet) but said that with a tandem she could see herself riding some longer distances and perhaps even go touring.

The tandem should be rolling out this spring... I can't wait.

sailorbenjamin

Mine's could care less about sailing, too. The minute the conversation turns to either, her attention goes elsewhere. I don't know how I got into this relationship.
Wait, now I remember.
My daughter is getting the bug. I picked her up a really cute little clunker style frame with a tank to build up just like daddy's (or however she wants, really) and we just got a trail-a-bike and she loves it.
I hang out with you guys when I need to converse about what matters in life.

mazdaspeed

My girlfriend went from never riding to turning into a fairly hardcore roadie since she's been with me. One time we were both involved in a crash, she was bleeding, and after I repaired her tube, she says "I can keep going"! She's also been accumulating bike parts for a build this spring

3speed

^Haha, actually the Peugeot I fixed up for her was a UO18(pretty sure)mixte, maybe a year or two older or younger than 69. She doesn't like it because she thinks it's too heavy, but my next try was going to be just what you said. Something she finds "cute" and light weight with indexed shifters and brakes that stop well with a nice easy pull on the levers. I'm gonna shoot for 20lbs and hope I end up somewhere close. I think that will at least get her out with me once in a while. It's just tough to find that spot where I can get her out with me but I'm not making her feel like she's being asked too often or she'll feel hassled. At least I Hope that's how it'll work.

Veloria

I know what you mean. My husband looks so nice when wrenching and drilling, that it would really be a shame to work on my own bikes. I prefer to cook him things while watching him work and eat. So cute.

YoKev

An interesting twist to consider:

I've dated two (2) ladys that were pretty into cycling, which is how (in both instances) we met. Simply put, as the relationships matured, our ability levels, style, and riding mindsets were so...different...that it actually added an extreme amount of tension to both relationships.

Chris W.

My wife loves to ride and loves her bike (Schwinn CrisCross with Northroad bars and fat tires). She rides almost every day (if it's not raining or snowing). She doesn't quite understand my "obsession" with bicycles and why I need more, but it will come

Cheers,
Chris

jan nikolajsen 

When we met 15 years ago, at 32, we were both into rock climbing - big time. Wouldn't have gone out with her had she not been a climber. Then a few years ago I got the crazy idea that we, and our then 10 year old son, should do a 2 month bike tour down the spine of the Rockies. Well, she wasn't sold right away, but I got her a 76 Gazelle and we started family rides. The tour went really well.

Now she's SO into it. On an average week she probably does 100 miles for recreation, and another handful commuting. She got a heart condition that keeps her from going 100% for any length of time, but the endurance is there. She can keep going, especially if it is uphill. Today she did a 6400' climb.

sailorbenjamin

I should add, though that I built her a nice Univega Mixte with some nice parts I had. She's ridden it twice in 3 years. This spring when I was cleaning out the basement I asked her if I should just sell it. She got all teary eyed and said she just couldn't bear to let it go.
There's hope.

ilikebikes

No, she actually hates my bikes.

bennie222

I love my wife but she doesn't even know how to ride a bike, and I like it that way. I spend enough time with the wife and kids, getting out on the bike is my way of getting away and getting some alone / guy time. My garage is my bike space, she won't even go in there. Only down side is that she doesn't really understand or condone touring or weekend adventures. I can't really just take a week off to ride across TX. If she were into cycling, we might be able to do it together. I can get a weekend off here or there to do an overnight camping/riding weekend but that's about it.

Mr.Dave

my wife does not know how to ride. i've tried teaching her, but it a work in progress. she has no real interest in it, but supports me and enjoys seeing me happy.

USAZorro

My wife was poisoned at an early age by mean older brothers. She doesn't know how to ride, but is definitely coordinated enough to learn - she just hasn't.

Veloria

My husband is certainly free to go off on cyclotouring trips without me. Sadly, half the time he plans rides with his male friends, they end up canceling "because of the wife". Though maybe that's just a convenient excuse men always use. I can't possibly be the only female who does not tell their husband what to do with his time and when to come home.

Sixty Fiver

Before I met The Girl I had made a list of the qualities I wanted, if I was to ever date anyone and being a cyclist was pretty high on the list...

As The Girl and I got to know each other she said she was worried that I would not enjoy riding with her as I was "too fast" and rode "too far"... I explained that I was just waiting for someone to give me a reason to slow down with so I could enjoy the view.

She is a bit of a sandbagger in that she does not think that she is a strong or a fast cyclist... and yet, I always find myself trying to catch her.

She rides every day no matter the weather and goes through a set of rims in about a year on her main commuter... I'd say she's pretty hard core and now she has this lighter and faster Peugeot that I built for her.

But we do love to pootle along together and with the girls, we sneak kisses at stop lights (who needs a car), and the "Places I Never Kissed a Girl" tour has been going on for 3 1/2 years.

I plan to ride across Canada with my daughter in 2015... she told me to have fun... but who knows... she might just want to come along.

snarkypup

I'm pretty much the only one here who has much interest. My partner is into climbing and is in the Mountaineers. We used to climb together, but my body won't let me do that anymore. He claims he wants a bike "like mine," but I never see him ride the crappy mountain bike he has, so... I'll buy it and fix it up, because that will be fun, but I don't expect him to do much with it. He says he'd like to do some longer rides with me. We'll see. The kids think I'm nuts. My step-daughters think vintage bikes are unattractive and weird and totally uncool. My son is too little to care, though he enjoys his Huffy POS from the toy store. He does have a new red basket to use once the weather improves, which he will like.

I don't mind, though. I like riding by myself. I can go whatever pace I want, stop when I want, coast when I want... my disease has lowered my lung capacity and so going uphill is a long, arduous process. I can do it, but I have to stop a lot. Cycling by myself means never feeling like a burden or a problem for others. I enjoy the quiet time. I don't get to cycle as much as I'd like, though, as I have little kids and when I'm home alone with them, there's no real riding. But since I mostly ride alone, when my partner is here, I'll duck out for a ride and he takes the kids. It works out.

brianinc-ville

My wife commutes to work every day on the same Atala my mother used for touring in the early Sixties...let me go talk to this Freud fellow about that...

snarkypup

Depends on how you feel about watching your wife ride it, I suppose... or rather, how you felt about watching your mother ride it, Freud would say. He already knows how you feel about your wife.

Doohickie

My wife told me flat out she would never have anything to do with riding a bike. She broke her kneecap falling off a bike when she was in 5th grade and vowed to never ride again. Never is a pretty extreme word.



We finally got her a bike last month and she's been riding pretty regularly, albeit short rides (longest so far is 7 miles round trip with lunch in the middle). I let her know I would love it if she rode and she pretty strongly said no, so I never brought it up again. Then she eventually softened her stance and decided on her own that maybe she should get a bike.

Doohickie

Oh, you're smooth, you are. I'll have to remember that line. As it is, my wife knows I slow WAY down when we ride together, but I've made it clear that riding a few miles with her is a lot more fun that riding 30 with the club.

Doohickie

Good for you. Be patient.

jdgesus 

my lady loves her bike, she rides to work most days, all year.

i love my lady.

Sixty Fiver

It has nothing to do with being smooth... it is how I honestly feel... but if it is something that is true in your heart you wife will know it.

My favourite riding companions, and companions in this world, are The Girl and my daughters and we all enjoy cycling and where it takes us and how it brings us closer together.

I ride for therapy as it offers much relief for chronic pain and sometimes I am up at 2am because I can't sleep and will go for a ride... The Girl just reminds me to make sure the lights are charged up and to wear my helmet.

When I have had to sell certain bikes because I could not ride them she was worried that this would make me sad.

I could not have a better business partner as she is rather brilliant and there are no professional boundary issues if I want to make out with my co-worker.