Some things are just so much more enjoyable with other people.  This summer/fall I’ve been lucky enough to cruise around on my road bike with friends in preparation for the Bike the Barns ride.  This is certainly something I would never have done alone, and yet its been one of the greatest things over the past few weeks. The ride is this weekend and I’ll be sad to see the ride disappear as an incentive–fear of pain and humiliation on a group ride is a surprisingly effective motivator.

I guess I caught the group training spirit because I recently just signed up for Grandma’s Marathon in June 2011, after some encouraging from a friend.

I realize that these types of group activities-subjecting ourselves to long hours of work, training and pain-are not obviously enjoyable from the outside looking in.  Yet, once you’re in, it feels great and you can’t imagine how you did it before.  Hmm, maybe this is how cults get started?

Today I am grateful for a large (and growing) group of active friends.  And the recent solidification of my bike tube patching skills.