I've finished with school as of today, June the ninth, 2011. It feels a bit weird being done with Colorado seeing that I feel like I just got here a week ago, but I guess the whole "time flies. . ."thing holds true seeing that I had more fun than I really knew what to do with.
The exam itself was a true test to anybody's bicycle mechanical skills. It really put me in my place and made me realize that I have a lot more to retain than I initially imagined I did. But, I know that I have more than enough time(my life)to brush up on my skills through experience and putting into practice what I learned at Barnett's. I'm looking forward to settling back into the shop environment, especially now that I feel much more comfortable breathing in that kind of workplace stained with grease and dripping with chain lube; I feel like I know what to do with those things more than I did at my other shop. Either way, it's good to have what I've obtained this past month under my belt so that I'm prepared to pull up my britches and take on the cycling world, one bolt at a time. But between now and then and you and me, I'm more than ready to take on more than half the country first, cutting it in half with the tread of my tires and waving to the north and south on either side, dodging road-kill, and standing statue-still in front of a raging bear that's ready to eat me out of tent-and-home. I'm more than ready for adventure and at the same time, somewhere in the back of my mind and feet, I'm ready for a little hometown time. I honestly wouldn't be so much if it weren't for the potential of work that I'm blessed to have been offered; otherwise, I would keep going past Virginia, ocean or not, and take on Europe, but I think that's more for a few years down the paved road(and don't think I'm just saying that; I've made it to Colorado already. Personally, I can do anything at this point).
I'm spending my last evening here like I would on one of the regular nights out I took during this past month: having my last meal with a side of Red Ale at Front Range BBQ, saying goodbye to my smiling waitress that's put up with me, Monica, and finishing the night off with an Americano at Jives Coffee Shop, where it is relatively quiet and peaceful, a perfect serene ending to an adventurous time here in Old Colorado City. For anyone who feels like they might relate to me, I would highly recommend these places; and, no, I'm not getting paid to put these names out here. They're just decent places to pass the time away if you find yourself in a foreign town, wishing you were tinkering on some bicycles somewhere in a shop stocked with good tools and good coffee and good people. . .you find a way into that mindset with the places and people around you where you are at the time, turning a month-long-stay in a hotel room into a walk-around town that turns you on to encounters with unfamiliar faces and brand new stories that you can store in your "remember when" mind bank. "If you can't be with the ones you love, love the one your with" sort of way. -Crosby Stills and Nash
So here's to Old Colorado City and the streets that it opened me up to. Here's to a good place to start. Here's to a good place to start going.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlE-Zv4Pyhk This should sum up how I feel about this trip. Just the way he moves and performs screams smiles and excitement. Speaking of smiles, no one can out-smile this man; and if you can't smile at him. . .it is what it is.
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