Well, "mediocre" is relative...

I got the idea for writing this blog while riding last Sunday in the Santa Cruz mountains (see photo behind blog title--you can't tell, but I'm gripping my brakes for dear life). I was thinking about how much riding is a part of my identify, yet I still do not consider myself a "good" cyclist. Why is that? I've ridden from San Francisco to the border of Oregon; around the North Cascades; through rush hour traffic on Market Street in SF with one pedal (yes, that really happened); and ride pretty much every day, at least around the neighborhood. While among the general populace I may be considered an experienced and skilled cyclist, I find that in the world of riding, especially the uber-competitive and race-heavy culture of the Bay Area, I'm still only OK. I've found that this sort of purgatory cycling status (not hyper racer-chick, but also not "sunday morning rider") has made it challenging to find riding friends/partners, explain my cycling-status (Fellow Cyclist:"What are you training for?", Me: "Well, nothing.") and find my rightful place on Tunnel Road. As a reaction, I decided I'd start blogging about riding--nothing exceptional, just accounts of the daily commute; weekend epics; and general cycling-lore from the perspective of a woman rider with no racing ambitions. I also commit to posting a ride each week, that will generally feature lightly traveled, safe roads and trails, and give the turn-by-turn experience of the ride--mostly because I would find this useful myself! Lastly, I'm hoping to find kindred spirits (especially young women) who love to ride, but don't want to compete. So, we'll see how this works, and if it's as self-indulgent as I suspect. Happy riding!