Eastward-ho!

And it's official! September 22nd. No, I'm not getting married, but it feels like just as big a plunge. We're moving to New England! Probably Gloucester, although if Cody gets a job between now and then in Portland (Maine, people) or Burlington, we'll probably go there instead. For all the nay-sayers who tell me, with the best of intentions, no doubt, that, "you don't want to move to the east coast!" Well, I think . . . I might. Here's the plan:

• I'm gonna race the f*#& out of some cyclocross this fall. New team, more support, less travel. But more on that as the info rolls in. Cross. Hells yeah.
• We'll be keeping our insanely low cost of living, and perhaps lowering it a bit more.
• Cody can work as much as he wants for his old tree company and make bank, and I can, presumably, get a job . . . somewhere. Point is, make money, pay off student loans, and be free to go where we please a year or so from now, free of debt.
• Massachusetts has socialized medicine. Weeee! I haven't been to the doctor for a non-injury visit in . . . um, a long time. Yes, that is a legitimate reason for moving.

Cody's been in Reno for 5 years, I've been here for almost 9 (!!!) and it's time for a change. Gloucester's the only place we can go and not have to find an apartment (long story short, we're living in a barn . . . but it's quite nice) and be guaranteed jobs. I'd love to move to Santa Cruz, but how the hell could we do that and still have surplus income to pay off those loans? Yeah, not gonna happen. New England it is! I've had some issues with that place in the past, but I'm ready to give it a go. Certainly cyclocross will keep me occupied for the fall, then I can take a little break in the winter because road racing doesn't really start up over there until April, which means I won't be all hella burned out in July! See???? It's a perfect plan.

Seriously, though, I'm also a little terrified of moving 3000 miles away from my friends and family and the races and rides that I know and love. Plus, there aren't really hills there. I'll be doing like, 30 intervals to equal half a trip up Geiger. But people in Davis regularly kick my ass on the climbs, so I'm sure there's some trick to it.

But mostly I'll miss my friends and fam . . . who really ought to all start looking into the cost of tickets to Boston and come out for a visit!

I really need to keep my big mouth shut . . .

I'm a flake, I admit it. I try not to be a flake, but it's hard. I just change my mind a lot, that's all. I have too many good options, and I have a hard time committing to any one because it would mean closing the door on others, and I hate limiting my options that way. What brings this up, you might ask? Ahhh . . . . cyclocross.

I'm back on the 'cross bandwagon for now. I started polishing up the bike yesterday to sell it (I know, I know) and decided that was a horrible idea and I ought to race it instead. Plus, with this whole possibility of moving to New England . . . you get the picture. So now the only question that remains is what to do with the rest of my road racing season. I have 5 on the calendar, including the Mt. Rose Hill Climb this weekend. Now that I'm thinking 'cross I'm thinking that I should go for a run, which really does nothing for my hill climbing legs, but what the hell. That climb hurts no matter what I do.