sunswarm.

today was a long day at work. demanding customers, difficult bikes, my mind cluttered and stressed. i couldn't wait for the day to end. when it finally did i set of for the store for a few essentials, but the ride didn't help to clear my head. i stuffed my bags with dinner and headed home stopping only once to admire a swarm of mosquitos and incidentally, the setting sun.

stop looking at me.

unfortunately my commute has gotten much shorter to what it has been for the past year. it's going to get hard to get any miles at all for quite a while. i guess much of my riding will be doing errands. and speaking of errands, i'm always painfully self-aware when entering a building wearing a helmet, bicycle or motorcycle. while in motion on a vehicle a helmet is perfectly normal. while standing in line with an extension cord, a case of seltzer and some light bulbs you will draw funny looks. fortunately within minutes i had left the store and was enjoying myself while toting my cargo home.

handsome.

sometimes life gets in the way of what matters to you. this past year life certainly stood between me and what makes me happy. it's very easy to put blinders on and follow the only path that seems necessary and everything else just sort of falls by the wayside. although my life revolves around bicycles i had become very sour towards my own bicycling. it took almost 9 months for me to get back in the saddle. when i did, though my cardio had certainly suffered, it felt like i had never taken a break. the sound of the freewheel. the motion of pedaling. the feel of the bike rolling over tarmac. it was all that i loved about the bike and it loved me back.

i hope this year i can take off the blinders and look around at all of the things i've been missing.