Keeping on Truckin’
I’m still working to balance my love of the bicycle with my love of not being in the hospital or on crutches. I was officially allowed off the crutches and back to the active life on 15 September, and I’m trying to take advantage of it without overdoing it. That can be hard, but, on the other hand I take a lot of joy in being able to just carry things from room to room.
I have picked up and begun riding the Surly Long Haul Trucker. It’s easily the most I’ve ever spent for a bike, and worth every penny. Just jumping up on it to ride makes me happy, and it seems to be a rock solid platform for getting around. I’m still making tweaks to it – the rack goes on today – but so far it’s been everything I wanted.
I have gotten back to swimming, and that has been humbling. I’m barely swimming a third of the distance I’d like to be doing, and forget about performance. But there are bright spots. I’m beginning to see improvements. And I’m certainly tired and certainly sore in all the right places. I think this will be a good plan in the long term. Frankly the humbling parts of it are just as important as the physical improvements. I feel like I grow as a person when I do things that are difficult for me. Swimming is definitely an opportunity there.
For no good reason, I had a professional barber shop that fronts a speakeasy shave my beard. It was an expensive evening of personal grooming, but an great experience I’ll remember a long while. Jim and Sabrina Geldmacher shared the experience and pronounced the cocktails at the speakeasy excellent. If you like fine grooming or fine drinks – or both simultaneously – take a trip to Blind Barber.
Finally, the support and love of all the folks out there still amazes me. Thanks all!