Keeping Busy

The title of today's post is both a summary and an explanation. There is no doubt that the semester is back in full swing, and the amount of reading I have on my plate right now is all the evidence I need of that. Between getting through those hundreds (no, I am not exaggerating) of pages every week and logging enough hours on the bike, Blogging has been relegated to B-priority lately. Sorry guys. But with a four-day weekend on the horizon, a nice little window of time just opened up.

To steal a line from my fellow-Blogger Andrew Bernstein, "It seems that winter has gone south for the winter." (Well played, sir.) And yes it has. While places like Maryland, DC, and New Jersey have been getting hammered with the white and fluffy, up here in Boston we got no more than a light dusting, which is just fine by me. I was only locked up indoors for a single day, so I used it to log some gym time and add some weigh to my lack of a frame. Today, Mr. Sunshine was back and I was out and about once again, in nothing more than leg warmers, which was an awesome surprise.

Of course, none of that is at all exciting, though if you hail from one the unlucky snow-packed regions it might be somewhat of a tease. If that is the case, read no further, because I am about to make you spectacularly jealous. One of the beauties of my collegiate life: the three-day weekend. After countless hours pouring over the course list last semester, I was able to construct the best possible schedule to allow me to train as much as I want. That means Thursday skips straight to a double dose of Saturday. I love it.

So last Friday (or Saturday, part 1 as I like to call it), I set out in search of a quality 4 hours. I couldn't find anyone to keep me company, but to be perfectly honest, there is something to be said for riding alone. The silence is absolutely soothing, and there is just no way to match the efficiency that you can achieve when riding alone. With no one to break the wind for you and no one else to dictate the pace, you can do whatever you want the whole time. And that's just what I did. I set out on my favorite extended loop to Harvard and back, with just a brief stop at the country store for some Fig Newtons and Coke to re-energize mid-way. It was a perfect day.

But now I need to make you even more green with envy than you already are. When I said I was riding alone, I may have lied a little. Though I may not have had anyone to talk to for those 70 miles, I did have this image in my mind the entire way, beckoning to me every mile, every pedal stroke, making the day that much easier:

Yup, that is simply the best French toast you have ever seen. Knowing that I would crave breakfast food after a long ride, but that by the time I was back the dining halls would have switched over to lunch, I craftily snagged these during breakfast and popped them in the fridge to save for later. Dubbed "Crunchy Texas Toast," these bad boys are, in short, supremely thick slices of bread, egged, battered, and coated in corn flakes before finally being thrown in the frying pan and served up. With some cinnamon and little jelly on top they were divine...and just what my growling stomach wanted.

If that's not good company, I don't know what is.