I hate thinking up titles to these things . . .

The East . . .

. . . vs. the West.

I feel like I should always come up with this clever little title, but I always totally fail. Whatever.

The blog has been so very neglected, and I can't even blame it on Facebook, because that, too, has seen little of me lately. Unlike my previous "where have I been" blog-post-life-updates, I don't have much going on so this is going to be really boring.

Why, oh why, when the West coast is getting ramped up for such late winter epics as Snelling and Merco do I still have no base, to speak of? To fully understand you would have to spend a couple weeks mid-January in New England. We've scarcely had a day without precipitation (mostly in the form of snow) in two+ weeks, and on those rare clear days it's pretty much arctic. Yesterday when I woke up it was -10 F with the windchill. Rad-tastic.

I'm going to share with you my hard-learned lesson of the winter 2010-2011: When faced with such inhospitable conditions as the Nor'east offers from December-March (hopefully) one ought to find joy in pursuits that do not involve wearing spandex and moving at increased rates of speed. One can wear spandex, or one can move quickly, but they should be mutually exclusive. And honestly I haven't done much of the former.

Not sure what else to elaborate on. I could get into how our X-mas/New Year etc. went (it was good), but it's been like, a month and I don't really feel like it. I got to go home for a week to visit with my family. I happened to go home when they were having 65 degree weather and I got a nice dose of sunshine, and got in a lot of biking. That was pretty much rad. It was good to see my folks and Reno and California again. But, I'm glad I moved.

I know, what the hell, right? But it was time for a change, you know? And sure, I could have just moved to Santa Cruz (oh please oh please oh please some day) but that wouldn't be enough change for me to really feel like I made a change. Or so I postulate, while awaiting the dumping 0f 10 inches of snow that we're supposed to get tonight. Le sigh. Anyway, as much as I love Reno and the west coast, this is a good experience, and all in all I'm glad we made the move, regardless of my wishes to return west in a number of years.

Anyway, the whole winter thing kind of throws a wrench in my bike racing plans, or, I should say, road racing plans. I mean, I'm just going to come out and say it - I don't want to ride my bike when it's 15 degrees and snowing outside. Sorry, I think it's time to admit that I am simply not that dedicated. And if I'm not dedicated enough to do that then I'm certainly not going to spend a month on the trainer instead. Pshaw, right. I was beginning to worry that I just wasn't that into my bike anymore, then I went out west and got to ride in the sunshine and it was total Bikelove. Descending down to the Yuba River with sunshine on my skin was pure ecstasy, as was the climb out. So it's not the bike that's the problem, it's the weather. And as such, I think it best not to force it. Okay, so I won't be fast in March, or April, or maybe even May. But there's still lots of racing in June, July, and August, and then there's always CX season. And it really forces me to find enjoyment in other physical and intellectual pursuits, which I feel can only make me more balanced.

Oh, the only really news-worthy bit is that I got a new job! But anyone who reads this already knows that, so that's kind of a stupid bit of news. But I love my new job and it makes me happy to be here, plus, free gym membership! Because it's really cold out there.

Anyway, if the first part of this post doesn't quite jive with the second half, it's because I wrote half yesterday and the finished it today. Until next time . . .