Friday & A New State Of Living

Today (Friday) was a good day of doing nothing, and it felt good on many levels.

First level: Yeah, I popped during my ride yesterday. I should have rested or laid back, or at least dressed better, but I rode, and even though from my blog post it sounded bad, I actually had fun pushing myself through the "discomfort" of the ride. Saying "pain" would be too much, it wasn't all that long, it just wasn't all that fun. But still fun in a twisted way. Dig?

Today I busted out some nice XXC work in the a.m., and then got a call from Wifey that she needed some sort of tax info delivered to the office ASAP, so I gussied up, and used the opportunity to drive somewhere as a chance to continue on down 127 to Alma and visit Napper at Terry's Cycle and get the Jake's wheels and brakes looked at.

Papers delivered and 20-ish miles later I was at Terry's, Napper took care of my wheel, the brakes, and I was on my way feeling damn good that there is a shop like Terry's so close. Good peeps. Napper used to wrench for Volvo/Cannondale back in the day when pro mountain bike racers actually made a living from it. Now he's home in Michigan, co-owner of Terry's Cycles, and taking care of business in the shop and on the race course. Not to mention he's a super nice guy with, a nasty ass sense of humor not unlike my own. In other words he digs poop jokes. It was a good trip.

Papers delivered, bike fixed, good time had. Then it was home to bust out some more work and have "lunch" with Wifey on her lunch break. Before I knew it, it was off to get B-Man, plant some grass in the back yard, and walk with him as he did some laps around the neighborhood on his bike. Fun? Yep. Stressful? Nope.

Chilling tonight with a few beers, playing some Wii, making some Mexican and thinking about the race on Sunday. Sweet!

The Friday post sort of ends here, then I started waxing nostalgic for my current home, you can leave now if you wish.

Later.

This week has been hard. Not real mentally hard, or work hard, or relationship hard. But hard because I realized again that I have really grown to like it here. Yeah, the winter sucks, and it's seemingly always colder than PA, and that sucks 'cause I hate being cold, but I mean I REALLY like it here. We love B's school (SHA), our town is small, but has everything we need, the people aren't as rude or as angry as what we became used to, houses are cheap, there are dirt roads out the yin–yang to ride, races every almost every week during the season (and none really more than 2 hours away), good beer (Bells, Founders, Shorts, Mountain Top, etc., etc.,) and a great bike shop an easy 20 minute drive away, and another right around the corner from my house with some good folks too.

Bike hitching post in downtown MP.

So why is it hard?? Because when Wifey, B-Man and I moved here, we thought, and told our family, that we would give it a shot, stay until Wifey could transfer, and then get get back to western PA ASAP. I mean I was super angry and depressed to be leaving the mountains of WPA, and the riding that I loved there. But now it seems that just isn't going to happen in the near future. We ended up buying a house, love that Wifey's commute is 10 minutes (in super heavy, heavy, heavy, traffic, with accidents, and a stop for a coffee) rather than 45ish minutes in to work and often 1+ hours on the way home, I often go weeks without putting gas in my car (and find the prices go up about 50¢ every time I do have to put gas in!), B-Man loves his school too (which is literally right across the street from our house), we can walk to good restaurants, bars, pizza, beer, church, school, barbers, the library, etc.,

I find MP to be a pretty bike friendly town too (in my opinion, some locals may not think so). I have not heard "Go Lance" or "Get off the road you f*cking piece of shit" (actually yelled at me in WPA), or anything else. I had one incident that was more from miscommunication on my part at a turn and the fact that the Jake's brakes suck, and had little to do with the driver.

Sure we miss our families and friends, and it kills us to see B-Man cry after a visit home or when his "Poppy" (my father in-law) leaves after a visit here. It also sucks that my dad, his "Pappy," really doesn't "do" traveling anymore, even if it means seeing his family, but there is nothing I can do about that. We have found that we enjoy the atmosphere up here. It's not "laid back" that's too west coast, but more.... I dunno! But there is something "different" about it that fits our pace. If there was ACTUALLY a mountain in MOUNT Pleasant, we may never think of leaving.

B-Man taking a spin in downtown MP last Thursday.
Note hands stuff in shirt 'cause it's freezing! LOL!

Wifey and I know that we have family, and personal responsibilities back in PA, and a lot of good friends (not to mention some kick ass mountain biking!!!) I just can't imagine living there again. Can I imagine living here for years and years? Probably not, but NOW I know that life is too short to be tied to a place out of habit, that you shouldn't settle for a place. Would we have moved if Wifey wouldn't have got this job? Nope. And we would have bitched about it the whole time. We ended up living in a place that this time last year we had never even heard of, yet here we are. Happy and content. Sad on many levels and missing family and friends, but wishing they were here with us, not there, with them. At least that's my opinion.

Garden boxes in Downtown MP

This whole attitude of mine could change tomorrow, or in few months, but it sort of felt good to say all that. Not sure what any reader got out of all this, but it what's done is done. Sometimes writing is better therapy than paying money to a therapist! :)

Later.