Perhaps it's just me, but it seems as though I've been away for such a long time. I am hopeful that things will be calming down in the near future (let's say a couple of weeks-ish) and I'll have somewhat of a more regular appearance here. For now though, I just wanted to thank everyone for your kind words with the loss of our little guy and for the thoughts on continuing to write here. In a strange way, the house move and renovations have made me miss blogging (and even more importantly, riding) more than ever.
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| This is what life looks like these days. Walls being removed, lots of dust, and related fun. |
In short, I feel broken. Renovations are no joke! I suppose this is often why people pay others to do the work. But, the good news is that we have made enough progress that we have been able to move into the new place. Yay! I am not a person who does well living out of boxes, so with the exception of one of the rooms that we can't quite use yet, things are pretty well unpacked. The tough part with moving into a project is that having all of our stuff here makes moving around to do work a little more awkward.
We have had a couple of absolutely gorgeous days here in Colorado, and I haven't been able to enjoy them, unfortunately. Such a crime! Reaching the 70s F this time of year is simply unheard of, and I am kind of kicking myself for not allowing a bit of a break to enjoy such a treat, but I know there will be time for riding and that getting home set up is important to us so that we know we have a functional and comfortable base.
This morning, I looked longingly at the Hillborne and thought, "If only..." Then the new Rodriguez was eyeballing me too. It wasn't easy to walk by and fetch the tool I actually needed. I realized also in that quick moment that the city bike has a flat tire... something that normally would be immediately addressed, but for now will have to sit and wait its turn.
So, since I haven't been able to get out at all and enjoy riding a bike, I'm hoping some of you might be willing to share a story about a recent ride for you. Anything exciting going on in your area? Upcoming bike projects, rides, etc? I need a fix until I can get back out on two wheels. Hope you're all doing well and looking forward to getting back to posting soon.
So good to hear from you, G.E.! I'm glad you're in your new house and starting to see the light at the end of the dark Tunnel of Renovation.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I haven't been riding much. It's certainly not as cold here in Middle England as it is over there in Colorado but it's been cold enough (with attendant winds) to aggravate my ongoing sinus problems, so I've been using the bus a lot, with 2-3 times a week using the Viking Bromley in central London between the train station and my office. If it weren't for those few miles, my legs would have forgotten how to cycle by now, I think!
That said, I had to cycle to the hospital this morning to get fitted for my new hearing aid (yes! yikes!). The weather forecast was for a day in two parts: very wet in the morning then clearing off but with plummeting temperatures this afternoon. It was in fact too warm this morning for the waterproofs and it wasn't raining when I left the house.... of course that changed in a heartbeat and I arrived at my appointment soaking wet. And then cold coming home. Felt wonderful to be out on the Cross Check - though I was terribly slow coming up the hill to get home!
Gotta get those cycling legs back on - I've signed up for a proper 200km audax in May!
Give those bikes of yours a pat or two from me next time you pass by them! :)
Interesting... I very rarely read the "About Me" pages on blogs, but it makes good sense that it would be the secondary stop for a new reader.
DeleteCongratulations on your second birthday/anniversary! Wishing you many more happy years of writing about bicycles. :O)
Dang it! I just deleted a long comment twice by clicking on the wrong button. I'll try to reproduce it, but am giving up after this third attempt if I do it again.
ReplyDeleteI've been through home renovation and remember it just as you describe it: physically hard and emotionally disorienting. The good news is that over time all of that fades into a pleasant memory of a shared adventure. Hang in there!
Most of my riding this year has been commutes, so not much to share there. The big news on the biking front is that the co-op where I volunteer had hired a shop manager who plans to start offering overhaul classes soon. This means that my hopes of gaining significant wrenching skills may soon be realized. I have an old bike in the garage that I'd love to rebuild from the bottom bracket up. I'm so excited!
It's good to see you back here.
Oddly, as I was trying to reply to your comment, I too had issue with Blogger losing the comment. I swear, this has become so frequent anymore that I try to remember to copy my text before I hit "publish" because I cannot even begin to share how many times I've lost a long bit in a split second. So frustrating! Thanks for taking the time to write repeatedly to get a note to me though. :O)
DeleteYes, home renovations are for the birds! I think we are starting to see through the mess (finally) though and it's starting to feel more like "ours." Like anything, I know we all have our individual likes and dislikes, areas of life that are more important than others and so on, but I am amazed that people will live in a house for decades upon decades and never change or improve anything. Simply fascinating to me. But, I am a person that finds home to be one of the most important parts of life and being able to have a comfortable space makes life seem a little better. Anyway... all of that to say, it's nice to know that there are others that understand and empathize with the pain. :O)
A commute ride sounds absolutely blissful at the moment, but even more exciting... news of the co-op! That is fantastic news. I know there is a similar type of place in Denver, but I've never actually gone to check it out (generally because I'd have to drive and it seems rather counter intuitive to me). But, I'd love to hear how that goes when you have an opportunity to dig in and really check things out. Really interesting to see more and more of these types of opportunities popping up across the country.
Glad to be able to send out a quick note and appreciate you taking the time to fill me in. :O)
So glad everything is coming together now. The good thing about renovating in the winter is that you will be free to do more riding in the spring. I have been commuting fairly regularly but recreational rides are few and far between because of the cold, wind and frost. I am so looking forward to the spring, I feel hemmed in by this cold and windy weather.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Stephanie! Glad to be doing this while it's cold and icy than when the weather is warm and perfect for riding. Although we've had some pretty amazing days the last couple of weeks. :O)
DeleteWe get a lot of windy weather this time of year. Well, we get quite a bit of wind year-round, but the winter winds seem to be particularly brutal. I'm glad you've at least been able to enjoy commuting, even if it's not as much time on a bike as you'd prefer.