Listening to the voices in my head

At a certain point years ago, I asked the Universe for a riding partner. I was cycling longer distances, faster, and I wanted a compatible partner for companionship, even as I enjoyed riding on my own. I rode with group that met weekly at a ridiculous time of morning, to avoid traffic and benefit family schedules for later in the day. Someone riding with an adjacent group that also met at this silly early time eventually became my partner, romantically and in riding. We live together now. Yesterday when we talked about what we could do today, he hoped we could ride a long gravel route. I also wanted to do something longer than 30-50 miles we had been doing for months now, it was time for a bigger chunk. Throughout the day, we had conversations about which route to do, pros and cons. Initially, I thought we would ride out to the Hero Gravel course near Stillwater, but later, my partner said he didn't like the traffic, the narrowness of the roads, more pavement than gravel, etc. He w