I mean seriously...

...do NOT under any circumstances think that girls want to go out with you because you throw up fake gang signs.

TOSRV

210 miles later and I'm all in one piece. I had a blast! We had beautiful weather, a little windy, but it could have been much worse, and honestly, I feel pretty decent right now, all things considered. I'm so glad I decided to ride both days (thanks to John Martin for telling me to put my big girl pants on). Sometimes you just need to test your body's limits and this was just the right test.

I felt great on day one and on day two I felt pretty good for about 75 miles. The last 30 were a little rough, but I never felt like I wasn't going to make it--I just needed to go a little slower. We really hit some of the stretches hard, especially on day one, and it was so much fun. I'll definitely do it again next year!

On the whole dating thing...

My close friends and I, since we were in high school, have been what I call compulsive monogamists. On the surface, this doesn't sound like such a bad thing, right? Monogamy is good. Yes, monogamy is good. But, what we never really learned to do is date. So, I decided that I need to learn and like everything I do, I dove in head first, joined some dating websites, told everyone I know that I was looking, etc., etc. I've read articles about making the best online profile, tried different ways to narrow my search, talked to guys that I had less in common with than I thought was necessary for good conversation.

And, I feel lucky that no dates have been disastrous yet. I've talked to a lot of really nice people, had some pretty boring dates, but had some really great ones. Obviously, nothing has stuck, or I wouldn't be rambling on about this, I'd be gushing about how lucky I am to have found someone. But, I'm learning A LOT, not just about what I want in a mate, but about myself. I have forced myself to relinquish a little bit of control and just go with the flow. And you know what? I'm MUCH happier.

I'm a little overwhelmed with how busy I am some days, and it's hard to fit in time to go out on dates, but I'm living so much of my life right now, and things are fantastic. And I know that eventually, the right guy will come along, whether its online or elsewhere, and hopefully, we'll be overwhelmed and busy and ecstatic about living life together.

In other news...tomorrow is TOSRV. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. More on that later (assuming I make it back to c-bus in one piece).