Dan Action

The Move Complete May 6, 2008

I write this from my desk in my new house. Sorry for all the delays in the posts here, it’s been a cyclone of tying loose ends and moving for the past few weeks.

Riding is just picking up again for me after a week or so off. Since I left the road bike in Philly after the Rapha ride, I only really had my track bike to train on back in Gainesville. I’ll say it was a great change of pace for me. The group rides had hit the critical mass they always do towards the end of the University’s semester, leading to inevitable squirrely riders trying to test their mettle. One good crash happened while I was away where someone was going into the red and not able to keep their head head up. They hit a sizable piece of garbage in the road and flew into the pack causing a couple serious injuries and a lot of bike damage. No thanks, not for me. Not on a training ride. Crashes happen in races, it natural, but that kind of stack-up is ludicrous on a training ride. Me and Mike Arena opted out of the training rides and went out on our own. We found some killer limerock roads to bomb down, and generally just drilled it. He is one of my favorite people to ride with. We have god rides and manage to keep a good tempo+ pace without trying to drop each other, or be really aggressive at all. I will say that a good 45 mile ride on the track bike is like a 60 mile ride on my road bike. I forget how much of a difference coasting makes, if only for a few seconds at a time.

I finished out my schedules at my two jobs. It’s a shame, I feel like I was just hitting my pace with it all. Then I go off and move again. That really has to stop. All said and done Gator and B-n-M treated me so much more than fairly, I owe everyone involved the deepest gratitude.

I got to a couple of shows with Travis just before leaving. This made me immensely happy. The music we made filled the void where my creative energy is too often ignored for all the rigors of the days. We really learned how to play together and were synched up to the smallest of cues. Every time we played it was different. Some things work, some things don’t. You have to try different formulas all the time. Why not?

We drove the at-capacity van up the coast to our new house and got right down to business. Within a few days we had a functioning kitchen, done first of course, then a nice living room, decent storage organizing in the basement, and we’re at 80% of a bedroom. Our house rules. We are set up for visitors, so figure it all out and come see me. We can make some coffee and hang out in the alley that is our street, or take a walk over to the outdoor Italian Market that bustles all day. Oh, the smells; Atwells ave. in Providence wishes it was this.

I started at Bicycle Therapy last Sunday. What a shop. It’s so PRO. It is such a comfortable place to both work and shop. The commitment to customer service really makes me smile. No hard sells, no attitudes. Tight. I got to get taken out for a three hour jaunt out to the Pennsylvania farmlands with Lee and an few friends of his. It was a gorgeous ride of roller after roller, and even an alpaca farm! It was a ride I needed bad. Tonight, as with any town, there is a Tuesday night ride around the art museum (the Rocky steps) and along the Schuylkill river. It’s supposed to be about an hour at race pace. I’ve been a little off the intensity workouts of late, but I’m stoked to go out there and ride around. I’ll let you know how it goes. Stay tuned for more of the same, but actually more. Some fun Rapha rides coming up. These seem to be getting increasingly adventuresome, so check it out here.

Wild Years

At the first shop I ever held a job at, the owner would constantly repeat a certain line or two on how we should operate much in the same way sharks keep themselves alive. It was simple, keep moving. Luckily my pulmonary system operated in a much different way than any shark I’ve ever heard of except for, maybe, the kinds that deal in loans or cards. I do not have to constantly concentrate to stay animated enough to force air into my lungs, I am quite well equipped to stay still, and these days I very much enjoy it at times.

When I was not too much younger, I constantly avoided sleep or inactivity because I was sure I was going to miss a great moment somewhere I could have been had I not been in slumber. This led me to sleeping in more than a few kitchens during long, friend-filled nights of horsing around. I would shrug off exhaustion to get an earful of another slew of awful jokes and elaborate and wild stories of unremarkable events. It may seem silly or unnecessary, but when you’re young and thirsty for adventure and genuine experiences, this was the stuff that was golden.

Now-a-days I tend to think that I’ve slowed it all down a bit, that I’ve dialed back my wild style. Until, that is, that I look back on just how hectic each year has been.  This past one, looking back from now, has seen me living in the shed I built in Florida, then back to New England for a intense CX season, then back to Fl to live in yet another apartment with a new partner. Now the saga continues as I settle into my new home in Philadelphia.  The past year has seen me hit the end of my financial resources and race on the most tenuous of budgets, and stretch a few relationships as far as they could possibly go, it has had me working in a slew of shops, and has hopefully made me a better person. Who knows?

Have I slowed down? I guess not, not that I am looking to any time soon mind you, I suppose I’ve just acclimated to the rapid changes and pace that I’ve always known. I just do get a bit more sleep these days, which works out well for me.