I was really hoping that immersing myself in “dating mode” would shoot off the right energies to attract people across different circumstances. I was right!

Yesterday, I had planned to meet Financial Inclusion CEO Guy for a second date, walking in a park just west of Berlin. Rain foiled our plans, so I was all dressed up for a literal raincheck. So I had a nice relaxing rain-shaken outdoor brunch with Dora and her Date #9, the clouds scattered, bright blue skies flooded the streets, and the scent of rain inspired me to put my bike gear on. An hour later, I was on an excursion that would take me ~13 miles each way to a region with some of Berlin’s famous lakes.

Just half an hour into this ride, in the gorgeous Volkspark in Schoenberg, despite the cleared-up weather forecasts, I was caught by another downpour. I parked myself under a tree, and slowly was joined by other random cyclists. One was a cute-ish guy, my-ish age. I made some passing remarks, and he reciprocated slowly. We realized that our strongest common language was Spanish (he was Peruvian, living in Germany for ten years), and soon we were chatting. Before the rain let up, he asked where I was going and whether we wanted to take a bike ride together. In my athletic goal-oriented mode, I actually wanted to say no, but I remembered the relationship-finding priority … and so I said yes.

He charted a course for us. My bike is faster than his and he didn’t have as ambitious a ride planned, so it was slow going, but he accompanied me through some really cute parks. He’s a math and physics high school teacher (my favorite subjects in high school). I stumbled to explain in Spanish what a systems engineer does. The backdrop all throughout was incredibly gorgeous. We were cycling through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen close to a city center. We rode and chatted for a nice hour, until we reached, coincidentally, the very spot where I was supposed to have the forest-walk date!

By the end of the date, I had exhausted the questions list I had for a first date. I knew with certainty that I wasn’t interested in meeting again. He was interested though, and he invited me to share my contact info so we could cycle again soon… I gave it him, as the easiest way out of the situation… (Perhaps I can work on breaking the news when a guy has a great time on a date but it’s not for me?) Still, a beautiful, fun time was had by both, and I appreciated having a nice guide to see a new part of town!