Am I a Cyclist Yet?

Can I call myself a cyclist yet? I can't wait to stop saying, "I'm just getting into it." My insecure self tells me that the "experienced" cyclist are judging me, and well, I want them to stop. Whether I am a little "roadie" or not, here's a break-down of my cycling summer.

I bought a bike in June. Really didn't want a Trek, but I also was sick of shopping around. I liked the way it looked which I've heard was the most important thing in buying a bike by several non-cyclist girls. I decided to listen to them. I also held back buying a more expensive bike just in case I didn't fall in love with it. So the question remains; Did I fall in love with it? Do I think it was all worth it?

Last Saturday was race #1 for me. I learned some things from riding the Tour de Saint George. First, if everyone around you looks confuses and starts stopping, don't keep riding. But if you do keep riding, realize that if you are no longer seeing other bikers in a race with 400 people, stop. Please don't keep riding. Riding 10 miles out of the way really takes all the fun away from riding. I did see other cyclist actually. They were all just going the opposite direction. I caught up to one lady after I had turned my bike around. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Are we going the right way?"
Her: "Yes."
Me: "I've been riding for a really long time. Are you sure?"
Her: "Yes."
Me: "What mile are you on?"
Her: "84. What about you?"
Me: Ready to drop my bike and kick it 100 times. "108....I think I went the wrong way."

I've never been so ready to cry but unable to produce tears in my life. Luckily I found out that several people had or almost had missed that turn. It feels better if a whole crowd of people mess up than if you just do it alone.
I crossed the finish line without even smiling. I think it took me an hour to smile after that. I decided I'm not counting the time that I had to backtrack. I'm deleting that from my overall time. I didn't do as well as I wanted, but I didn't do bad especially considering my training plan of taking 3 weeks of the bike before the race. I realized I could do it though. I think wrecking gave me some kind of mental strength

.

And about wrecking...Lessons learned: Don't ride above 30 mph when you can't see the road ahead of you. Watch for rocks, especially in Springville. Learning how to emergency stop really would help me. Road rash hurts- a lot. I laugh when I'm in pain. I can be pretty tough if I want to be. Pain pills make me feel confused and really sleepy. I have amazing friends and family that take care of me. The hospital has magical anti-nausea pills which I would love to carry around. Utah Valley ER has some darn good nurses and volunteers (especially the man with the South African accent who I made come talk to me throughout the night.) Swelling hurts. It is really frustrating to not be able to lift your arm to get dressed, put make-up on, do your hair, and just operate in general. Wrecking on a bike really does hurt.

The conclusion is that I LOVE cycling. I used to love running. There's definitely still a part of me that does and always will. However, I'm starting to think that running is for people who can't ride a bike. Cycling has opened me up to new friends, boyfriends, better girl friends, and given me a new belonging and sense of self-worth. I realize that's a lot to gain from something as simple as a bike, but it's the truth. It really has helped me get over heartache. I've ridden when I've been excited, and I've ridden when I've been sad.  I've ridden into a new love of life. For those reasons, I'm just gonna go ahead and start saying I'm a cyclist.