"Penny S." <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Your spouse? Your relatives? Your biking pals? Your friends?
Uh, it's sort of like an internet bike club. No, it's not a web site. No, it's not chat. No, it's
not a listserve or email. Not a web site either. And, duh, NOT a part of ao-hell.
It's about 100 guys and five women from all over the world who like to
talk
Quoted message said:mountain biking. It's like a post ride beer bash bull session on someone's deck with every type of
personality and rider. Sure we meet up for rides when we don't know each other... what's so weird
about that?
People think it's strange. My wife was definitely leery of going to Fruita a couple of years ago to
ride with some freak I met online. She's warmed up to the idea a little and the Freak quite a bit,
but she still thinks I'm not suspicious enough of online contacts.
I tell people it's like a BBS (bulletin board system) who may have been around when you used to
actually dial directly into a big computer system, or at least heard of them. I have such a diverse
group of friends and activities that there's always someone I hang out with or something I do that
is a total mystery to somebody else I know.
Next month I'm staying over at an online friend's friend's place after a concert. That was hard to
get approved with the Mrs. and she's still pretty skeptical. The friend is someone I've known online
for about four years and we've both met him and his S.O. at shows a couple of times. So I feel like
I know him and trust his friends are OK. She's not too sure, but (sort of) trusts my judgment.
It always sounds strange when you try to explain stuff like this to someone who doesn't understand.
Matt
