I was stuck between a rock and a hard place last night.  Work has been absolutely brutal the last few days ahead of the long weekend and my lungs are really showing some positive signs of clearing up.  Add to that, a bit of Tour de France fever and I was very much looking forward to really hammering it at the club ride last night.

On the other hand, our girls were spending the night at a friend’s house so my wife asked to come along.  Now I know a few people that she could comfortably ride with and I even called the owner of the local shop to make sure that she could handle the slower group without a problem.  She wanted me to ride with her though.

Enter the pickle into this equation.

To make a very long story short, I chose to stick with Mrs. Bgddy for her first club ride last night.  This had some minuses of course – watching the main group pass us by without leaping on was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done on a bicycle.  This was, by far, outweighed by the following:

1.  I would get to spend some much-needed time with my wife, just out for a nice ride.
2.  I would know that she was okay, even though she’d be riding with very accomplished cyclists (and decent folks).
3.  She would feel more comfortable with me there
4.  I’ll be heading out for a 100km (minimum) ride tomorrow, so taking it easy really wouldn’t be that bad.

Sure enough, we had a blast, even considering that we got there a little late, had to deal with a mechanical (quickly) and didn’t get to warm up.  Most importantly, my wife really looked like she was having a great time talking with everyone around us…  It was a perfect, safe and comfortable introduction for her to my Tuesday night club.  And that, beyond all else, is what being a good husband is all about.

We went to Qdoba (our favorite) for an after ride dinner and had a wonderful evening together…

Good thing I didn’t let my BS feelings get hurt over having to take it easy on the ride or I could have screwed everything up.