Now that I write a lot for my job, writing for personal reasons has gone way down on my fun-things-to-do list. Most of what I write for work is awesome: it's cool to talk to a guide and hear all about where he's from, his family, stories from tours, etc. and then write about it for the world to read. Other assignments involve researching a destination, again, talking to a guide about it, then putting words and visuals together to make the place come alive. There are newsletters, events, Facebook, Twitter, and a million little random things that keep it interesting. I like variety and this is definitely that. A lot is fun, but it's still work. There are deadlines and responsibility--the point is for people to have a dreamy travel experience that's right for them. When you add the biking part to the mix, that complicates everything significantly. It's nice to get it all just right and, of course, always avoid any discussion of the weather since that's so impossible to know. Heck, the weather could be great and a volcano could explode, you never know in this business.
Life in Massachusetts has gone well beyond my expectations. Boston was never on my list of cool cities (Montreal is at the top with NY, San Fran and Denver not far behind). Every day I'm here, I'm warming to it (I'm referring to the city itself). The town I live in, I adore. It didn't take much before I was in love with this community. Technically, I shouldn't like it all that much. I live in a place where most everyone is married with kids and anyone my age is, minimally, married. But I guess I'm enjoying everyone's company enough not to care a whole lot. Everything takes care of itself, so as long as I don't go live in the wilderness, Mr. Wonderful is bound to jump out from behind the rock he's been hiding behind someday. Everyone has an interesting story here and it's a friendly population. Whatever reputation Bostonians have earned, I think those people must be just in the city, because those on the periphery are very warm, good people.
This area is not all that different from where I lived in upstate NY. It has many of the same nice qualities of a good community without the craziness...but it's not all that far from a city of some size. Note that when I was in upstate NY, gas prices weren't a concern so it was nothing to jump in the car and drive for 3 hours to NYC or far less than that to get to the mountains (big hills for you Coloradoans), lakes, skiing, etc. I'm very happy to be here and it seems to have the best of the things I liked about Italy and the U.S. It was also quite helpful to have my mom drive out here with me to get me all set up & see her enjoy the area. I guess I needed that, mom's approval has a lot of weight, still, and possibly more than ever. The time with her was the best time I've ever had with her and it was not too different from a two-week long slumber party. We (and she, in particular) had so much fun. I had to work much of the time she was here, but we still had solid time to spend together.
After a very long winter of traveling and not touching the bike (it was good for me, the break, though it killed my fitness, was healthy and, simply, had to be done to manage the traveling, visiting and living situations I found myself in). Now, I'm absolutely thrilled to be back on the bike, loving the nice, comfy ride of steel and not missing the jarring of the light race bike. I just want to ride long, fun miles with people who are interested in conversing during the long ride. I'm absolutely done (ummm, at least for a year) with training rides where I have to worry about my cadence, heart rate, etc. every moment of it. Right now my thing is to train for a long almost 150 mile ride coming up in June. Good excuse to get long miles, explore the area and work towards something tangible. It's a brewery-to-brewery ride, so you can imagine what edible tangibles there will be at the end of that long day in the saddle.
There's pretty much the coolest bike shop/coffee shop combo in the world (as far as I'm concerned), in the area. It's my happy place, where I go to start rides, have a really tasty cup of coffee after rides (Italians would be impressed), hang out and chat with other cyclists, and simply be with nice people. Every time I go in there, I know at least one person, if not more. For being new to an area, that's an awfully good feeling. I likely speak for a lot of cyclists--that it is the dream of a cyclist to have a shop where they can go and simply spend time without feeling like a shop rat. This place invites you to stay awhile. So I do.
It dawned on me today that I really need to get out a bit more socially--you know, in Saturday night clothes. It's easy to not go out when my social life is at work (I am fortunate to like my co-workers a lot) and through bike riding. I have a few other things that I've managed to find to do and if only I'd start going to Toastmasters, my life would closely resemble life in Denver...though, of course, Denver & other friends, you will never be replaced...just added to. :) It's impossible to keep up with everyone and there is so little time. Tonight I got lucky and had to do something for work near home so I got home well before dark. Few evenings are like this one.
Well, on that note, it's time to sign off. After starting the day with a very hard road ride, my metabolism is going crazy and I'm hungry. Will go pet a very cute kitty that I'm pet sitting and get it all together for tomorrow. I know I owe you/the blog pictures. Will try to make that the next post...one with waaaay fewer works and many more pics. Ah, there's the kitty now, nudging and purrrring, gotta go! Hope this finds you all well!!!
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