Connections

Riding a bike is best done in the company of others. Half the time I ride it is usually with a group, mostly the Insane Bike Posse. Riding is safer and more fun with others. Yes the people I ride with may be a little odd but that is probably true of most serious bikers. 

I am amazed at all the connections that I have made through biking. Besides the Princeton Freewheelers I'm also a member of the Jersey Shore Touring Society(JSTS) and Philadelphia Bike Club(PBC). I joined JSTS when I moved so I had a club closer to where I live. I probably ride with them once a month during the warmer seasons. It's been a year since I joined the club and am starting to get to know some of them. 

Last Saturday I went on a club with JSTS. It was a 40 mile ride at a B pace. There were 8 people on the ride and I recognized a couple of them. At the rest stop, which was at Roy's, I ran into Statler and Waldorf who were on their own ride since they didn't think they could do Laura's longer 60 mile ride. So I was on a JSTS ride talking to people from PFW who know most of the Posse. It was a meeting of my many connections.

Saturday night we went to a party at a friends house in our community. There were about 20 people there most of them I knew but I also met a few new people. The community I live in is a true community in the sense that most people here respects each other and work to make the community a good place to live. There are a lot of active clubs and events and a lot of chances for social interactions. 

We don't attend a most of the parties or events but are a member of some of the clubs. This past Wednesday the veterans club ran a trip to the Battleship NJ. I had always wanted to take a tour of the ship so I went along. It was a well organized trip. The club rented a bus that drove us to and from Camden and arranged for a complete tour of the ship. We got to see everything from the main bridge all the way down to the boilers in the lower decks of the engine room. The engineer in me really loved seeing the mechanical workings of this complicated ship. It was also fun taking the tour with some veterans who shared some interesting stories from their time in the service. You can see some pictures of the ship here.

Although I only knew a couple people in the veterans club they ended up being a very fun an welcoming bunch of people so I now have a couple new connections to people in the community.

For a person who shy's away from social interactions I'm amazed by all the connections that I have made and continue to make. I'm glad I have made these connections as I know they help my mental well being and hope my interaction with people help them as well.