...like I like my men: hot, bright, and naked.
[The bottom of that portafilter was perfectly machined off at Seven Cycles. No, there is nothing that Rob cannot do.]
the weekend in pictures: ride.studio.cafe
Since first visiting Ride.Studio.Cafe last fall, I've been meaning to go back. A big, bright space with racks of Rapha, there are enough Cervelos and Sevens to make you reconsider your conviction that there is such a thing as owning too many bikes. A big coffee bar sits on the side of the shop, a wide table perfect for hanging out and resting tired legs while sipping good coffee or espresso. Spacious but cozy, with good company both behind and outside the coffee bar, I promised Rob I would come back as soon as I got my IF together.
But things like "winter," "cold," and "being lazy," kept getting in the way, even with all the events they were having. Finally, with the weather cooperating and all day events scheduled for their first anniversary on Saturday, I grabbed my IF and made my first geared trip to Lexington.
Lucky enough to catch the club riders after their ride, I walked into a packed shop, filled with a number of super domestiques in Ride.Studio.Cafe/Rapha kits. I was a sweaty mess, but that didn't keep a few nice people from pointing at my chest and asking about NYC Velo.
Drawn to the coffee bar [against my better judgment, as afternoon coffee tends to make me bitchy], I wussed out with a San Pellegrino. Then found out that espresso, De La Paz's Perfume V, was free that day. Sal promised it was interesting, and really good, with that intense look that baristas and coffee aficionados use to tell you you're going to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if you decline. And because I am a pushover, I said yes.
There was half a cup of Stumptown coffee too. Because, hey, last time I visited I drank an Americano and three shots of espresso so why not keep up the trend of consuming stupid amounts of coffee whenever I'm there?
Amped up like a paranoid squirrel, I left before the party [plus beer] got underway. Still, I've found a new favorite place to hang out. I'll be back soon!
an empire state of mind
I never believed in taking "breaks" from a relationship. When friends would tell me that they were "going on a break" from their [once] significant others, it always just sounded like they were "going on a [really drawn out path towards] break[ing up]."
Of course, it takes falling in love really hard to finally see that periodic absences are sometimes a good thing, and that any intense kind of soul-wrenching love will, at a certain point, get slightly suffocating. Not that it's not hard; but a little time away can make the heart grow fonder...or at least fond enough where quirks are once again charming as opposed to annoying, and you can politely laugh at not-so-funny jokes, instead of rolling your eyes.
So when I arrived in NYC and had to climb five flights of stairs with an Ortlieb bag that weighed almost half my weight and the tractorino that is my bike, I almost gladly used it as an excuse to take some time off the bike. For a full weekend.
Incredible, right? Even I was amazed. But I somehow told myself that this foreign concept of walking more than 20 feet a day was going to be good for me. I'll be using muscles that I just don't use when I'm sitting on my bike or sitting in front of my computer or sitting around with friends. I'll see things that I'll zoom past on a bike. It'll be like riding my bike for the first time to school, I told myself, except slower, and I'll be working my pathetically weak core...!
I wasn't totally wrong. My legs were dead by the end of each day, and climbing those five flights of stairs multiple times a day worked my thighs and glutes harder than my rollers. I realized I could still walk several miles without my legs falling off, but also, how much easier/faster/more efficient/less painful it is to ride a bike.
But I also saw things that I wouldn't have seen on a bicycle. A peculiar man wrapped in some knit garment, hanging out on a crowded corner by Union Square, my legs fully covered in proper pants [not leggings], and despite the bike-friendly reputation of NYC [at least as compared to Boston], walking into Stumptown coffee was way easier sans bike.
Still, I missed the love of my lifey. Or at least riding her...which, given my sometimes-rocky-always-schizophrenic relationship with my bike, is enough to have me jumping back into the saddle. I love New York - and oh the pounds I'd shed if I lived and walked there! - but for today, I'm a little bit glad to be headed back to Boston, where an empty fridge means an excuse to spend that much more time with my two-wheeled wonder.
Sometimes, we all just need a little time away.