The home stretch

Today is Thursday, December 2. Hard to believe, I know, but according to the little iCal widget on my dock, that's the date. And my Mac would never lie to me, now would it?

The coming of this date means that I have just 10 days left here in Barcelona, a terrifying prospect. To be as cliched as I can, it really does feel like only a week ago that I stepped off the plane into BCN, lugging my suitcase and bike box around the airport and to the bus. But, here we are: December 2. Ten days to go.

Rather than reminisce about my time here or philosophize about what I've learned, I'd rather just tell you what I'm going to do with my little remaining time. (Chances are, though, that you can figure most of this out for yourself anyway.)

Number one on the list is, of course, ride. With all three of my papers handed in already, and two of my four final exams behind me, I'm left with quite a bit of free time. A trip to Girona and an epic to Montserrat are already on the menu, but I have a full week to fill up, so there will be plenty more of that. The fact that my gym membership expired as well only means more time for riding. I love winter. As much as I love to race, and as much as I love to ride in nothing but shorts, there is something about a crisp winter day, when the sun is out, the wind is not too harsh, and racing season is just a little ray of light breaking the plain of a still-distant horizon. It's hardly dawn yet in the cycling season, and as you all know, I am definitely a morning person.

The other item on my menu is, well, food. This is a menu, after all. There are still restaurants and hidden treasures I have yet to experience in this city and treats I have yet to sample. At the same time, there are places I am determined to revisit to get one last taste of something I loved here and don't want to forget. With all the riding I hope to do, I think that should work out just fine. And I still have a few Euros in my wallet, so I might as well spend them all. We only like green bills in the good ol' U S of A anyway.