training
(note: this entry should be back-dated by a couple of weeks)
A couple of years ago, I used to work at this bank in Boston. Huge towering thing, spread out across office towers in the downtown core, and from time to time, I'd ride my bike in to work, negotiating the labyrinth of ancient streets choking claustrophobic in canyons of steel and stone, pulling adrenaline from dodging couriers and cabbies while weaving between trucks stuck in traffic.
I thought of this as I pedaled over the John Hancock bridge at eleven on a Tuesday evening, watching the towers rise before me, twinkling in a clear night sky. Downtown is desolate after five in the evening. There isn't anyone on the road, so the senses aren't hyperfocused on keeping me alive and therefore spread out, appreciating the immensity of the buildings that surround me. Everything looms and glass walls shine with streetlamp reflections. Off in the distance, Madonna echoes from the open door of an after-work bar.
The guys at the door of Defmatch see me as I roll in, dismount and lock the bike to a meter. Phatmike says 'hey' as I nod back and fish for my ID.
Inside, it's funky breaks and I get a couple of solid blocks of dancing in, before Q, Jedi and I slip into a corner, to talk and catch up. At one point, Q asks if I biked here, and I nod.
"You know, if later on you're tired and you need a ride back or something..."
and I shake my head and explain that I've got this charity ride coming up and that I still needed to train for it. Weather's been sucky lately and it's cut down on my ability to pull fifty or sixty mile loops. So I've been riding to my nights out, working in the time on the dancefloor and the time on the bike as some form nocturnal cross training aerobics. At least it's better eye-candy than what I'd get at the gym.
But, anyway, yeah, this weekend my friend Liza and I are participating in a 150 mile bike ride to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. It's a worthy cause, and the folks at the MS Society are awesome people. I'd greatly appreciate your pledge, and I'm sure Liza would appreciate your generosity too.
A couple of years ago, I used to work at this bank in Boston. Huge towering thing, spread out across office towers in the downtown core, and from time to time, I'd ride my bike in to work, negotiating the labyrinth of ancient streets choking claustrophobic in canyons of steel and stone, pulling adrenaline from dodging couriers and cabbies while weaving between trucks stuck in traffic.
I thought of this as I pedaled over the John Hancock bridge at eleven on a Tuesday evening, watching the towers rise before me, twinkling in a clear night sky. Downtown is desolate after five in the evening. There isn't anyone on the road, so the senses aren't hyperfocused on keeping me alive and therefore spread out, appreciating the immensity of the buildings that surround me. Everything looms and glass walls shine with streetlamp reflections. Off in the distance, Madonna echoes from the open door of an after-work bar.
The guys at the door of Defmatch see me as I roll in, dismount and lock the bike to a meter. Phatmike says 'hey' as I nod back and fish for my ID.
Inside, it's funky breaks and I get a couple of solid blocks of dancing in, before Q, Jedi and I slip into a corner, to talk and catch up. At one point, Q asks if I biked here, and I nod.
"You know, if later on you're tired and you need a ride back or something..."
and I shake my head and explain that I've got this charity ride coming up and that I still needed to train for it. Weather's been sucky lately and it's cut down on my ability to pull fifty or sixty mile loops. So I've been riding to my nights out, working in the time on the dancefloor and the time on the bike as some form nocturnal cross training aerobics. At least it's better eye-candy than what I'd get at the gym.
But, anyway, yeah, this weekend my friend Liza and I are participating in a 150 mile bike ride to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. It's a worthy cause, and the folks at the MS Society are awesome people. I'd greatly appreciate your pledge, and I'm sure Liza would appreciate your generosity too.