Riding Centuries when you turn a Century

I was flipping through the "Southern Californian Bicyclist" earlier today - most of the paper is "roadie-focused" but I did find an article on "Fixing the Cycling Widow Syndrome". It was actually an excerpt from a book called "Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100" by a local Irviner, Roy M. Wallack.

It opens with a bit of dark humor detailing a T-shirt:

Front side: "My wife said if I do one more ultra cycling event she'll leave me."
Back side: "God, I'll miss her."

Although possibly a bit extreme, the joke describes emotions that are felt by many a cyclist's significant other. Feelings of jealousy, neglection, and possibly even disgust could come from the loved one of a cyclist who may not be "showing the love". In the article Roy quotes "Gottman, world renowned for his work on marital stability and divorce prediction, found that successful couples have three things in common:

1. They know a lot about each other - their opinions, their needs, their perspective;
2. The maintain respect/admiration for each other;
3. They maintain a high ratio of "emotional deposits" (thoughtful acts) to "emotional withdrawals" (self-centered acts). In fact, Gottman says, the highest predictor of a failed relationship is a low ratio

...Gottman found that the real number is at least 5 to 1."

Roy goes on to quote a sports psychologist, Charlie Brown (love the name) saying "Conflicts themselves are okay, a part of life. No two people agree on everything. The key to relationship bliss, however, is not making a big deal out of them."

For more info on the book check out his website at http://www.bikeforlifebook.com.