The answer to that question has many sides and as many asides. I will try to cover a good amount of ground here.
Let’s see, on the home front things are truly spectacular. Two dogs now playfully reside in the house. Work is getting to be a really comfortable place. It is completely full of great folks, I don’t even mind, and in fact, aim to get in early every work day if only to shoot the BS over a cup of coffee with everyone. Not to mention all the help and advice I’ve gleaned from them over minute details of the city. The likes of which make it easier to find the genuinely wonderful things in the city.
“What things could this be?” you may wonder. Well I’ll let you in on some of them.
One- John’s water ice. Folks down here refer to Italian Ice simply as water ice. This place is the tops, and I don’t say that just because it’s 4 blocks from my house. They also make their own ice cream. The mixture of their chocolate ice cream and the cherry water ice sends me to dreamland.
Two- It is not as easy as other places I’ve lived to buy beer here. Seemingly very few stores are allowed to sell. You either buy your beer as a 6-pack to go from a bar or go to the local deli or pizzeria to get some. Both of these, I may add, a re usually exceedingly expensive. Taxes on booze are high, as is public demand, therefore dumb, dumb beer prices. Though if you are of more quantitative thinking, you can also buy cases at a beer distributor. Prices vary pretty wildly, and you can not walk out with anything less than 24 beers.
Three- Travel to NY. There are a myriad of ways open to the auto-less Philadelphian to get themselver to Ney York. There is a series of two commuter rails that are scheduled in tandem to get you ther in 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There is also a few different bus companies that run from Chinatown Philly to Chinatown in New York. Each is usually $20 round trip, $12 one way. These buses haul ass and will have you on Canal st. in under 2hrs.
This is the tip of the iceberg as far as the helpful things my friends and co-workers have imparted on me. It works out great.
Riding has been going well. On the Rapha side of things, we all got our new bikes!!! I am riding a Chris Igleheart. It feels amazing!! The other fine folks that made frames for the team of guys were Bilenky, Independent Fabrications, Circle A Cycles (yahoo!) , and Richard Sachs. What a line up. The day after getting them we gave them a 100 mile whirl around the constantly undulating terrain of north-central Massachusetts. Departing from Fitchburg, we plodded north to touch down a little in NH, then returned south and completed the loop just after climbing the mount Wachusett summit. Kind of my old stomping grounds. We made sure to get some good photos, and to stop a lot to make adjustments on our one day old bikes.
Riding here in Philly has been pretty good, and I’m happy to say I’m finally back on a way more consistent schedule. I have actually been getting up to ride before work on most days, starting rodes at 7a.m., and usually going out for a good 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. It’s so much easier when there are people you agreed to meet. Days off, like today I usually do the morning ride, then try to squeeze in a second ride towards the evening. Cross season is beginning to pick at my mind. I need to be in killer shape by the end of September.
I have borrowed the demo Spec. FSR full suspension ride from the shop a few times and gotten out to the trails. There is some super fun riding out here, about four or five miles from the house. I love riding rocky, swoopy trails. The Wissahickon has got them everywhere. Not to mention a couple of long, gross climbs, and some nicely sculpted obstacles and berms. Fast!!!
That’s it for now. I’ll try and scare up a few pictures. Internet here at the house is more or less donated anonomously and sort of cuts in or out frequently, so that is no help for me trying to relieve the absentee-ism from my blog. Thanks.
