Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Riding with a New Romantic Partner I lurk and read these personal relationship threads as I similarly read the Boston Globe mainly for the advice column. I took particular interest in this thread, because as I posted about my romantic long-term romantic cycling relationship,We were in a relationship for about 2 years before I got the cycling bug .Not to be a Captain Bringdown,but is Sophie even aware of your intentions, honorable as they are? I don’t even get a sense of how long you have known her, how old are you both, and what are your life situations...students, in careers, or what?
From your plans and the maneuvers suggested on this thread, it seems you are in for a long term (and ? expensive proposition) to cultivate her enthusiasm for cycle-touring. I’m not necessarily looking for a response, just sayin’. 
FWIW. Good luck, and as I also posted:
JImfromBoston...I guess I'll get into the specifics of the situations as it's good for me to put it right in my head...
Sophie and I are both near 50 in age. She's a professed couch potato but is really a fan of outdoor activity. We're both in average shape and I don't think she has any experience cycling. I've known her for three? weeks and we have met once. She lives in a fairly urban area in Toronto and I'm located outside of the city on the eastern border in Pickering Ontario.
I've enjoyed this thread out of all of them so far...when I read the comments I smile from all the past posts living on here. I think she'll get a new rental for her maiden voyage...if she wants to try. She's pretty up front about what she's thinking and will tell me if my suggestion to bicycle camp is something she won't enjoy. I know that we see eye to eye on a number of things already and we both would like to camp together when it's possible. I'm going forward with my cycling adventures for the time being but I want to the best of all worlds. Sophie is a great person and is open to adventure from what I gather...just need to determine if that adventure includes bicycles.
I'm excited by the prospect of having a decent relationship again. I've been dating off and on for three years and this is the first glimmer of hope I've felt for someone since I've been back from Vancouver. Thank you for your advice and well wishes.
As for a bicycle for Sophie I plan on going to a place called Urbane Cyclist...a worker owned Co Op in the city of Toronto. They have touring bikes that they rent out and I want to support them so I'll pony up the bucks for something modern. Fit is it. I'll talk to Sophie sometime this week when we're in person again and see if she wants to try at some point. I may break things up and go camping together first and see how that pans out. We're both into each other and I want to rush things and take my time and let them happen simultaneously. I feel like a kid at Christmas time waiting for Santa to arrive. It's a wonderful feeling and I'm happy to be in this position.
I'm thankful to be a part of this piece of bikeforums. I'm not a racer, I'm not fast, I don't have good endurance and I don't like riding long miles. I have found my niche and I will try to ask more questions and seek the hive mind. I'm happy to have found this.