This is by far the longest-running creative stream I've ever kept going on a consistent basis aside from music, but even that ebbs and flows. I haven't written a song in 6 months. The blog, on the other hand, I've contributed to regularly for more than 2 years. That's something special.
It's been a bit of an adventure on several fronts. I'll be the first to admit that there's still a hell of a lot I DON'T know about bikes, and yet I realize that I know much more today than I did when I started this blog.
Believe it or not, less than a year before I started writing in this space, I hadn't even owned a bike since mine got stolen in college back in 2004-ish. I don't know how I survived for 2 whole months in this city without one. Even up until the time I decided to start working for Wash Cycle Laundry, bikes were still very much an afterthought in my life.
Then, a funny thing happened. I discovered that this job I took on a whim just to "do something different" and make some extra cash, it happened to suit me quite well. You might say, I fell in love with riding a bike, so much so that I decided to start a blog. Similar to my friend Julie who started a blog that became her job, I started a blog mostly because of my job that eventually led to me getting promoted to my current role.
The (quite literal) adventures began to come up more frequently soon after. I'm not sure if it was the blog that made me want to adventure or the adventures that made me want to blog, but I'm not interested in a "chicken or the egg" debate. Whatever the reason, it's led to an estimated 10,000 miles in parts of 6 states on more than 20 different bikes and countless amounts of pictures and memories.
I think the reason is something completely different, because truly there are three times when everything feels right in my world: when I'm playing music, when I'm with my girlfriend (You can all go throw up now, but it's true. I'll wait. You're back? Great.), and when I'm on my bike. The outdoors come in a close 4th, but I'm usually on my bike in that case, so anyway...
The best part is when someone reads along and then decides to ride along, exploring the same trails and doing more than just living vicariously through some dude writing about his rides. In fact, if you've been a regular reader, you'll know that reading about others' adventures has provided a great deal of inspiration, and that's really what this is all about.
Bikes can be a vehicle (pun intended) to amazing things. They've helped people in recovery from serious injuries, illness, drug addiction, and many other ailments. They've helped people get back into the workforce. They've helped people like me find a true passion. They've helped countless people create countless memories.
So, for the love of my blog, I decided to buy it a present...a new bike:
Actually, the bike is only new to me, and it's not really for me, it's for my girlfriend. Her name is the "She Beast" (don't ask), and I bought her off a dear friend and former co-worker who's unfortunately (for me) moving cross country very soon. It's a Breezer Downtown 8 ST (different year, but the same model) if you're interested. Now she'll have something to ride along with me every time she comes to visit! This past week, we were far outside Philly, on or about Southern Delaware:
Yea, I know. Tough to see, but I was trying to be aloof. I actually didn't take a whole lot of pictures with the new ride last week, but we did ride quite a bit (some not on the new bike - more on that some other time) and made it up to Cape Henlopen State Park for a quick day excursion among other things:
I'm sure I'll take the beast out for plenty of rides even when she's not around. Y'know...gotta keep the bike in working order, right?
And of course, I'll have many more adventures to write about (of course) in the future, but for now, thanks as always for reading and riding, and cheers to 300 more and 300 more after that and...
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