Game Changer

game-changer (noun)

(North American English)

a person, an idea or an event that completely changes the way a situation develops

Wow.  I'm not a religious person but the phrase that kept going through my mind last week as I traversed the patapsco trail at 515am was "let there be light".  My magicshine was amazing - I made it through the park a full 2 mins faster without even trying, mostly because I didn't have to keep slowing down and speeding up to see the road.  It was a beautiful experience.

I can't believe I'm so excited about a bike light to ride in the dark. 

While the magicshine is a game-changer for night/early morning riding, I have even bigger news to top that ... drumroll, please ... watch out DC/NoVa, 'cause here I come!!! Yep, after many hours spent driving back and forth to visit friends, attend events and post up for rides/races, I'm FINALLY moving! 

My last day at work in Baltimore is this Friday and the new gig in Tyson's starts the 24th.  Between now and then I'm packing up my house and readying it for my new renters, finding temporary storage while the boy and I figure out where we want to wind up while preparing myself for temporary apartment living after 9 years of having a 3br townhome all to myself.  Sheesh.  Do you have any idea how much ... stuff ... you aquire in nine years?  I'm finding stuff that I had no idea I owned! 

Oh, and then there's the new job to ready for - new commute, new systems, new culture.  For someone like me who likes my routine, this is enough to make my head spin.  BUT, I am completely stoked about the new gig - lots of opportunity and so much to learn, I'm super-excited to be able to partake in the local ride scene and, above all, I am thrilled to know that I will not have to continue taking years off my life in travel time. 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of starting off with the newly-revived Sunday 10am ride.  Complete with a shot of hot coffee to start. Note: taking a shot of HOT coffee is not all it's cracked up to be.  While I'm not on form by any stretch of the imagination, I did manage to hang in for about an hour before watching the group ride away from me.  Frustrating, but I know I haven't been riding that much and packing/moving boxes every night after work takes a toll.  (excuses, excuses). 

After I got over my frustration with myself (with much patience from the boy) we proceeded to enjoy another hour or so in the warm sunshine, hooking up with another ride when we saw Jose in the group and taking that ride back into the city.  A quick shower and a death march to a little hole-in-the-wall pizza/sub shop (death march as in I wasn't sure I was going to make it!) and we were happy campers.  It was a gorgeous day as we sat on a park bench enjoying some caffiene doing nothing in particular.

The whole time I thought about how great it's going to be when I don't have to worry about fighting sunday traffic with idiots on 295.  Now THAT is a game changer!

Just Ridiculous

When the alarm went off at 5am this morning, I squinted in the general direction of my window and saw raindrops. My first word this morning was: O'hellno. As in, there's no way I'm riding at 5:15am, in the dark, on wet roads and on wet leaves through the park. Despite wanting to just turn off the alarm and sleep another two hours, I managed to talk myself out of bed to investigate further. Upon opening the window, I realized the roads outside my house were mostly dry and the temps were warm. I cursed myself for being investigative and proceeded to pull my act together for another morning ride.

The road leading out of my neighborhood and down to the park is lit - sporadically but just enough. No real worries there except for the stray cat or a new pothole. It's a whole 'nother ball game once I get into the park. There are lights here and there for the first half mile, then nothing, then one or two random lights in the second mile. After that, it's pitch-dark. Under the canopy of trees, moonlight doesn't even shine through. (hence the need for the aforementioned magicshine, which can't come soon enough!).

Today was extra special because the leaves are making a mass exodus from their respective trees and papering the entire path. I couldn't make out where the path was vs the gravel on the side vs the darn forest. If I had a heart rate monitor on, I'm certain some of my highest spikes of the morning were during the time I was trying to ride through the park. If anyone could've seen my thought-bubbles, the dominant theme would be: this is just ridiculous.

Alls well that ends well, I guess - I made it to the ride with a minute or two to spare, everyone was pretty civilized as we traversed the dark and wet roads and I had the chance to play with the big boys a couple of times. At work now and trying to refrain from falling asleep on my keyboard and/or devouring anything in sight.

Speaking of ridiculous - this is a great article on CNN (re: our broken government) that I happened upon a couple days ago. I tweeted it (I don't tweet much so that's big for me!) but thought it was worth posting on here as well.

Happy Thursday - It's almost Friday!!

Long Overdue

A bit of a whirlwind around here - haven't had time or inspiration to write a witty blog. Instead I'll just highlight a few things, post a few pics and hopefully get my blogging-groove back.

A long vacation (to include Labor day weekend) was much needed, though I could have done without the 12-hour drive each way. While the east coast was getting hammered with rain, the boy and I were complaining about cool temps and wind. When we found out what we were missing back home, we pretty much stopped complaining. We napped, rode bikes, explored some of his old stomping grounds, ran and napped some more. Since we were staying with his parents, he was being a good boy and doing "squaw" work (his words, not mine) so I snapped a pic or two to memorialize the occasion. (I am so in trouble for posting this- you have no idea).


The house was full of puppies - both the ones that lived there and ones that brought along their human owners to visit. The wolfhounds were especially comical to me - at any random time and any random place, they'd lay down and 1) take up half the walking space and 2) look like they just keeled over, only missing a chalk line to truly live up to a bad, made-for-tv puppy drama.

Clancy passed out in the foyer

Claire passed out in the living room

Conan, the very needy Doberball.
Human legs added for entertainment purposes

I didn't get pics of two other puppies that visited with us but Liaka and Desayles provided cold noses and entertainment as well.



Other items of note - we survived the hurricane with no water in my basement- YAY! I did lose power for a day or so but from all accounts that was nothing compared to what some other people dealt with. The next week's rain, however, dashed my hopes that the basement water issues were resolved.

The morning ride has provided much motivation over the past weeks to get my arse out of bed - the 5am wakeup is not for the faint of heart. This group is hardcore - I roll up to the ride start and it looks like a Christmas tree with all the lights blinking. Of course we need it now - the sun doesn't come up until at least an hour into the ride (an hour and a half into my ride). I have a decent tail-light but my headlight is pretty weak. I'm slightly more advanced than "trail by braille" through Patapsco Park - slightly.

My strategy once the group ride starts is to try to keep one of the other riders with the flood-lights behind me to light my way. I FINALLY broke down this week and ordered my magicshine, with recommendation from the boy. I should be blinding on-coming traffic by early next week.

I absolutely NEVER thought I'd be buying a headlight to ride in the dark on purpose. Oh, how times change.


Speaking of change - stay tuned - there's more to come in the very near future.