That’s been my life lately – a little sweet but a lot of bitter.
The haps of my life, lately: I got a car. CRAZY! First one of my own in 6 years and I gotta say it feels real weird but maybe not as much as the location where I park it: mom’s house. That’s where I’m living as of two weeks ago when Clare and I officially checked out of 1111 Maxwell Ave, Boulder, CO. Hello to not-quite-Bermuda, Remuda Lane, Lafayette, CO! I actually like being at my mom’s far more now that I’ve spent some time there.
When we’d go to visit before it felt like a cross country trudge to the middle of nowhere. With lots of open space and farms and cattle and foxes…and cottontail bunnies EVERYWHERE…East Lafayette is a really neat, pretty place. And quieter than Maxwell as you can imagine. But back to the car – it’s a 1974 BMW “2002″, the same ilk of which I test drove numerous times back in my high school days. This one is by far the nicest I’d ever driven (that’s not saying much but still…), the body and interior is in pretty great shape and it runs, like kinda good, enough so to be a full fledged “daily driver,” according to the mechanic from whom I bought it. I refer the car as “her” and “she” like any good old-car owner. For example, “she needs a few minutes to warm up before you take off in the morning” and “don’t slam her trunk too hard, she’s a little ‘long in the tooth’!” I’ve literally said these things in the past couple days to my family’s amusement.
I went to Rocky Mounts the other day and had the new Pitchfork trays installed – awesome deal thanks to Bobby and our team discount. It’s amazing writing about all of this – cars, bike racks, the idea of me owning a car…for the last 6 years I’ve been car less but it’s amazing how quickly you get right back into the habit. I’m not making any declaration that I’ll keep commuting by bike a certain amount/week but I know that my general lifestyle has been affected by those 6 years and of course you can’t easily erase it.
What else…I’m going to San Luis Obispo, CA this Thursday for a couple of races and to check out the town. I’ve been intrigued by this place for a while and will definitely be scrutinizing it as a potential place to relocate. I’ve pretty much had it with winter – I don’t really ski or snowboard anymore, I didn’t have a car (and my new one is OLD and not going to be very fun on slick roads and with a weak heater), my hands numb with even the slightest exposure to chill (my ciruclation suuuucks), I love to train on my bike which is far less fun in cold weather, and finally, I’m just straight up sick of it. All of this leads to thoughts of year long temperate weather where I can ride and maybe resurect my old dreams of being a surfer. We’ll see, I’ll take tons of photos in any case, and post to this blog. I’m really excited about this trip, I plan on watching fireworks from the beach on the quatro de Julio, or whatever.
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Won a preme lap and 6th place in Scott Kornfield crit
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Some new sunnies and a VERY serious face
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We get cute during the Boulder Creek Fest
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Some of the Muddy Buds
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View from the bridge and a sunset in Austin
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View down South Congress – “SoCo” – in Austin. Capital building is straight ahead.
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The rain from my riding buddy’s place in Austin
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Hiked the entire Mesa Trail one rainy Sunday, Mother’s Day, afternoon
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Which one of these isn’t like the others? My 1974 BMW “2002″
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New “Pitchfork” racks courtesy of Rocky Mounts – thanks Bobby.
I’ve been doing long rides every weekend since the first of June (the 80 mile Hugo road race). 3.5 hrs, 4 hrs, 3 hrs is how it’s gone since. Very enjoyable and learning how to better fuel myself on rides that long. Usually leave with two bottle of water on the bike and one bottle of Gatorade in the pocket, a couple gels or a bar, and then a stop for some gnarly junk food to make it back home (last week it was a smores flavored Pop Tart
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We’ve had some good rides with the Flatiron Flyers lately at our Monday practices, love the kids like crazy and people are getting nicknamed (Jacque is now known as “Chuck,” pretty funny to transform a proper French name into something clearly less French and more southern, haha).
I’ve been pretty entertained with these two ladies’ blogs: YessPlease and Elbee by Burton and their “30 Days of Awesome” quest. I don’t know either of them but somehow I’m friends with one of them on FB so like any good interent vampire I clicked through and began to read her blog, then finding her friend’s. Obviously I don’t want to bite their concept completely but I am looking to challenge myself to experience some more consistently awesome days in this life. There is just so much more shit out there than work + bike ride + Facebook + internet-in-general + John Coltrane on my iPod + whatever other routines I maintain on the constant. I’m thinking July 1, 2009 will be the beginning of what I’m coining the first “man up & get right” month of my life. It’ll be hard, I’m sure.
This will hopefully entail my bucking the safety in routine habits I’ve developed, my balking at what scares me, my refraining from doing interesting things b/c I want to go on yet another, bike ride. It’ll involve sticking my thumb out and seeing what sticks, being more social, being a bit more like my brother and sister (without the homelessness and jam bands…ok, maybe the jam bands). My having the most “get right” summer month of my life. Amen.