Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I'm alive! I did a bike race in fact!

Well yes in case you were wondering, I am alive. Frankly I would say I am barely keeping my head above water. I have had visitors constantly for what seems like a month. Visitors are high maintenance as much as I love them! My mom is here right now for 10 days. She is very cute. Then she  leaves and a friend from Boulder arrives and then he leaves and I will be visitor-free for a week and then after that it is NO VISITOR ZONE for at least a month. I will need some Barb time.

What have I been up to, you may ask? Well definitely not swimming. I moved and then I thought swimming would be easier, but no, it just hasn't happened! What a slacker. I have been riding a ton. I joined a bike racing team here in NYC and it is so much fun so far. In fact this past Saturday I did my first bike race in New York. It was a CRCA race meaning only NYC clubs could participate, in a mixed Cat 3/4 field. The course was 5.75 laps around Central Park. Home turf, about .2 miles from my apartment. It was FUN. I was so nervous but I didn't almost crash even once. It was so different but awesome. I ended up 25th which I think isn't too bad for my first bike race in over a year, and my very first real circuit-type race. My mom was so cute and she watched. Sadly I didn't give her a camera to take pictures with, so I have none! I looked bad ass though, I think :)

So tris and me, I just don't know. We need some time apart. Every time I run my butt still hurts. I can't seem to say no to doing fun social things to swim. I just don't know that I want exercising to be a huge part of my life right now, which is why focusing on one sport that doesn't hurt or make my hair look gross may just be the ticket! We'll see. I may not be done with tris forever, but for now, I am enjoying taking a break and enjoying doing other things.

And in other news, I absolutely love living in New York for reals (not in Jersey really close to New York). Every time I walk out of my apartment and head into Central Park, I am just in love. It is so beautiful this time of year, it's really stunning. The whole city is so alive right now with spring. It is great. But you'll have to take my word for it, because you can't visit!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Sometimes my life is too exciting for words

And sometimes it is not. My big excitement of tonight was mopping. No, I am not joking. But I must say that the floors in my apartment were positively filthy when I moved in, it was driving me nuts, and I didn't have time to buy a mop until tonight. I know, don't be too jealous.

But today was super fun!! So I did this ride series with the New York Cycle Club all spring which was a lot of fun, and very time consuming, so while I enjoyed it and met a ton of people, which was great, I am not too sad that today was the last ride. But it was awesome. We rode to Cold Spring, New York, via all kinds of awesome quiet roads. We also climbed Bear Mountain. Now although I must say that as someone from Colorado, I question the use of the word 'mountain' in describing this place, it was great.

Here are a few views from the top:




The first picture is of me and a few cycling buddies. They are awesome. Once we got to Cold Spring we got to take the train back to the city, fun!!! I hadn't been on a Metro North train since I was 5 or 6 years old and my dad lived in Connecticut.

Here is the super cute train station:


The ride flew by because we were all chatting and I was looking out at the scenery. So pretty. It's been raining a bunch this week so everything is like GREEN. WOW. I am in heaven. What a super fun day, in spite of the excessive mopping.

So the only other news is that I am positively in love with the Upper West Side. It is so amazing. Everything is super convenient and being in the city just fills me with joy. I know that is cheesy but well, deal with it. Waking up in the morning and running for three minutes, or leaving work and riding for two minutes, and ending up in Central Park, is worth the price of admission. I just love it. I must say I am getting all mushy, probably because I am exhausted, but here are a few of my deep thoughts. First off it is weird to live in one place for almost your whole life, and to move somewhere else when you are in your 30s, and feel like you are finally home. Isn't that strange? I never felt like I 'fit' in Denver. And I just fit here. It is so peaceful in my soul even though I am in a busy, crazy place. Now here is the second thing. It was scary as crap to move here. I had no idea what it would be like and I hardly knew anyone and it's very expensive and there were about a million reasons not to move. But I thank God every day that I did it. Also, people always used to tell me 'wherever you go, there you are'. This is true in many ways but the experience of moving across the country is incredible, and I really feel like making the change was something I just had to try. I am shocked by how much happier I am. So if you're thinking about doing something that everyone thinks is crazy, well my advice would be to make sure it's something you really want to do, and you want to do it for the right reasons, but don't let anyone talk you out of reaching for your dreams.

Banzo OUT!!!