"Welcome back."

I did a few short rides to get used to the bike. The first ride was on New Year's Eve. The girl I was dating (Kit), my friend Brooke, and I biked north out of Santa Cruz up Highway 1 to Swanton Farms. Considering the time of year, it's been pretty amazing here. I wore shorts and was comfortable most of the day.

We stopped at Bonnie Doon beach and snacked a little, then continued to Swanton Berry Farms. Once there, we sat down with some hot self-serve apple-strawberry cider and played chess. They even give discounts to cyclist there, but apparently you have to have a helmet or the offer is not valid. We ran into my friend, Kyle, and he told us about a beach halfway back to Santa Cruz by the house of a mutual friend of ours (Anne). We headed south to Anne's and sat on the beach and drank a bottle of wine between the three of us.



The walk back to the bikes from the beach was long enough to sober us up a bit, and then we rode back to Santa Cruz. Kit and I were so tired we barely were able to stay awake until midnight.

Watsonville

Just this past weekend I randomly decided to bike to Watsonville. I called my friend Idit, and she and her boyfriend, Jonathan, signed on for the ride. Idit wasn't feeling too well, so the ride there was pretty leisurely. It gave me more time to take in how beautiful south county is. Fields, rolling hills, and views of the ocean were plentiful. It was great. I think I might love it down there.

At one point, feeling particularly euphoric, I told Idit that this was reminding of why I love bicycles so much. I told her that I felt like I'd been distracted by the whole fixie scene this past year. Her only response was, "Welcome back."

"Welcome back." I guess I have been kind of gone.



This new bike has come to represent everything that I love about life. I couldn't have been happier than when I was on that ride to Watsonville. I managed to get a vegan burrito at the deserted mexican restaurant we ate at, then we headed back. All in all, it was an amazing day.