Race report: Highlander Cycle Tour Corkscrew Century

Best swag ever.

Observation #1 from my first organized bike ride: Cyclists kinda speak a different language. "Hey flat handlebars, nice." "I did that whole hill in the big chain ring." There was no t-shirt involved either (just a bottle of wine, which more than makes up for it!)

I asked someone there, "where's the starting line?" "The starting line?" "Yea... where we start?" "Oh, there's no line, persay, just roll out whenever you want. Go that way."

Observation #2: After waiting in long, long, long ladies room lines before MIT and running events watching men walk right in and out of an empty bathroom, I learned that distance cycling is more men than women, sweet revenge, muhahaha.... :)"

Observation #3: Once they're done bragging about their equipment (ah-hem, Mom ;) ) they are such a wonderful community! I was lucky to not get a flat, but my chain popped out (shifting too quickly) and three people stopped in the middle of this massive uphill to see if I needed help. And everybody I saw changing a flat had others helping.

I did the Highlander Cycle Tour Corkscrew Century Saturday. I rode 101 miles in 8 hours and 7 minutes at an average of 12.5 mph.

(This will be a long post, but it was a long ride. The short version.)

Midweek updates

I've promised to keep everyone updated on the move and my (currently nonexistent) training. Lots of little things to report :)

I spent Friday and Saturday in Rochester, New York with my dad, and I found an apartment! I went to bed Friday mulling over what I thought would be a tough decision. Do I want to live 15 minutes away from work, renting out a room in a huge house with a pool and a fenced in yard? Or do I want to rent a (really big) studio apartment in a nice area of downtown in an awesome trendy building?

Drive-bys nixed all but one of our Saturday appointments, so that morning at 11 a.m. we rolled up to a lovely brick building in a neighborhood called Corn Hill, a half mile from my new office and a half mile from a bike path that goes along the Genessee River.

Corn Hill landing, just a half mile away from my new home.

It was an instant "a-ha" moment. It's a lovely, well-kept one bedroom place on the first floor. If you're friends with me on Facebook you can see a photo.

For some perspective, I have become a bit spoiled during my time in Newark. I live in a huge two-bedroom, all for me, with a dishwasher and my own washer and dryer. The new place is much smaller with no dishwasher and a shared washer and dryer.

Craigslist scammers Part Deux

Yea, buddy, I'm going to rent the house after doing just a drive-by and call you in Africa if I have any problems.

Again, the Craigslist posting looked normal and had photos. I think I'm going to stay away from postings without phone numbers from now on!

CL text read: "Two Bedroom back apartment. Rent is $450/mo. utilities are included. A cash security deposit of $300 is required. Nice backyard with driveway. appliances are included". The address given was 27 Bloomingdale St, Rochester, NY 14621.

The email contact was mankowski_david@yahoo.com. Here is the email I got from him. I emailed him back asking a few basic questions, and all he did was send me the rental application again.

UPDATE: I got a little curious, so I looked up the property owner in the county's property database. Looks like this David Mankowski did own the home (for about 20 days in 2009), then sold it to someone else. Very weird!

ANOTHER UPDATE: According to a Google search, the home was once rented by a seemingly legit property management company. It's not on their current list of vacant properties. I emailed them to see if they knew what the deal was.

It's time to move on

Life can change in a hurry. In one month I will be leaving Newark, Ohio and the Columbus area for Rochester, New York.

This all came about very suddenly. It started when my phone rang and I heard a voice I haven't heard in a couple months, my former editor, who had since moved on to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, also a Gannett paper.

I ask him how he's doing. He gets right to the point. "Good... except... I need a good political reporter."

I've been looking for a new gig. Not seriously, "oh-my-gawd-get-me-outta-here" looking, but keeping my eyes open. My resume was posted and here and there I'd drop a resume. I kept my search to Columbus and Cleveland, with the exception of another job in my company I had no desire to make another out-of-state move.

I'm fortunate to have the job I have now. The hours are good. The people I work for and with are extremely talented. It's a professional atmosphere and there's no workplace drama and bickering like the horror stories I hear from my friends.

But I worked well with my former editor, and the Rochester paper has a great reputation, so I decided to go check it out. Last week, I spent a day at the paper. I was impressed. The Democrat and Chronicle is a very forward-thinking news organization. It immediately struck me as a place that I could fit into and do very well for myself.

The thing that kills me about my current job is the location. I don't want to bash Newark, it has been good to me, but it's not ideal for a single young professional, and the walls have been closing in lately. Through MIT I've made a ton of friends in Columbus, just a 45 minute drive, and became more than accustomed to waking up before 5 a.m. Saturdays for our runs. I looked at moving then commuting in from every angle, but never could justify it.

And that's what, in the end, sold me on Rochester. The city has a very active young professionals community and a lot of character to go with it. I like places with character. There's an active running community, many places to bike and I'm sure no shortage of gyms that have a Spinning program, and I'm sure at least one will need an instructor!!

I start my new job July 16. I've been a little overwhelmed with all the packing and moving I need to do in the next few weeks.

So since this is my training blog, I must address the question: What happens next with my training?

I'll come to MIT this Saturday, won't be there the following week, then I'll be there for two more weeks. I've already let the other coaches know that they'll need to replace me. I'd like to still be able to run the Columbus Marathon, but my top priority has to be getting moved and settled into the new city and job! I'll keep up my training as best I can, hopefully hooking up with a group there. Once the month is over, I'll reassess and decide whether to do one full or several halves. Some of my wonderful running friends have already starting looking at races they can do in wine country with me!

I promise I will leave Team 12:00 in good hands! I've already emailed a couple of suggestions for new coaches :) Even though I've only been a coach for a couple weeks, I love it, and I hope the opportunity to do it will present itself again.

I told the Y I could still teach through the first week of July. After that, I'll be done with Spinning for awhile. My hope is to get back into it in Rochester, but I need to first take a couple months to get a feel for the new job and what kind of schedule I will be working.

There's lots more to write, so there will be many posts to come. All day I've been truly touched by the number of people RSVPing to the going away party some MIT friends are throwing for me. These are people who really have changed my life for the better in the past year, and I'm going to miss them terribly. In my adult life, this is the first time I've ever had good friends, or a life outside of work.

Yet I'm sitting in my huge, two bedroom apartment in small town USA, looking at small studio apartments in the arts district of Rochester, New York, and I won't deny it -- I'm really excited!