Ride And Abide

 " Solitude is dangerous. It’s very addictive. It becomes a habit after you realize how calm and peaceful it is. It’s like you don’t want to deal with people anymore because they drain your energy.” As an introvert, how do you feel about this quote? " -- Jim Carrey, apparently. I need to follow up on this one.

Since I live in Minnesota, and I pretty much hate the cold... I stay holed-up in my basement until the thermostat needle starts trending upwards of 40 degrees.  (yes, I know there is plenty to do when it's cold... anywho...) This year I hope to get a bit of a head-start on my mountain bike fitness so I decided to get a proper road bike.  (As it is probably not obvious, even after the weather starts to become nice/tolerable... there is a lag of a few weeks while the MTB trails thaw and dry out - enough to be ridden on without destroying them).  I stopped by the  Angry Catfish Bicycle Shop and Coffee Bar  to see what they had to say about my new idea.  Chris was really excited to show me something and while he was leading me across the store, I notice a bike in the fit room window from across the shop.  "What is that?" I wondered... It was, as I learned, what Chris wanted to show me - the  Allied Cycleworks - Alfa Allroad  with the  ...

"It would be awesome to move somewhere cool, BUT...." "I really want to live in a van and mountain bike around the country, BUT...." Fortunately I have not been keeping a list of all the things I thought I wanted to do, but didn't.   Un fortunately , I  know  that if I thought about it, there  would  be a list.  Regardless, the point is:  well, here we go... An interesting thing I have experienced through the process of trying explore life's options:  (most) people are afraid. Here is an example of a conversation Me:  I kind of want to live differently and experience more things. Friend:  Cool, you should totally do whatever it takes to make you happy.  What do you mean though? Me: Like, buy a RV-van and drive around the country and ride all the best trails.  I can work remote and still fly to places to work when I need to. Friend:  Whoa - I didn't  literally  mean "whatever it takes".  Tha...

This post will remain a work in progress... until it's not, I suppose.  For now... Live where you play... Options I am considering for my domicile Brevard - full time Pros :  Riding is absolutely upper-echelon.  It is almost ludicrous that I can leave my doorstep and in 2 miles be on an amazing trails. Culture is actually pretty cool.  Steve Martin has a house here.  No, seriously.  Somehow this place has managed to have it's cake and eat it too.  It's a mountain town, but it is also "uppity", progressive, and forward-looking.  I think this is a result of who actually lives in this "retirement community" - and this is a bit of a double-edged sword - people bring money here... and everything becomes more expensive :-(  meh. Airport - AVL is great.  No direct flights anywhere that I care to go to - but, 38 minutes to ATL and the entire world is at my finger tips. Cons : Job/dating.  If you move to WNC, bring a job an...

The point of me living in Brevard is to see if it can be "my place" (or one, of many, "my place(s)"). TL;DR - Brevard has legitimately not given me a single reason to say "no" to living here full time - and I find that surprising. I have a tendency to have a glass half-empty outlook on things.  I look at doing something, then figure out all the things that can (or may) go wrong.  And it's not because I am inherently negative, it's so I can identify risk and mitigate the risk.  It's what I have done for 2 decades at work and I enjoy it.  It now feels intrinsic - which... is unfortunate.  This trait has served me well at work (like being part of the team who design and implement the systems that keeps planes from "bumping in to each other in mid-air" - 1.73 million people / day probably appreciate my diligence).  Anyhow, I have digressed, but the points I have raised are important to this story. I have now lived in Brevard for 12 ...