Ice-cream VS. Pie

Day 6 – 2/1/09

On each of my adventures I want to run into and find new and different people and places. I think part of my training is not just getting into shape but also exploring the city and towns around me. And boy did I find a new place today. My adventure today started off fairly simple.  I was going to go bike to the JP licks in Newton (I know JP licks again….but hey it’s a nice way to choose a destination) It was around 4 miles away so it was going to be a simple ride.  I headed down beacon street and when I got the intersection where Cleveland circle is, I came upon a group of 5 “bikers”.  They were the athletic bikers that have the cool helmets and shirts that have pockets on their lower back.  I felt as though this would be a great time to observe how “real” bikers bike.  They moved as a group pedaling at the same speed looking as though they’re not exerting any energy. They were almost dancing with each other, moving in and out of formation, waving each other to the side to avoid ice and bumps. They were connected with each other creating a new entity that was not just the individual bikers but one vehicle. I fallowed them the best I could…(from afar). I really wanted to know what this image looked like to a passer by, 5 stellar looking bikers and one biker on a mountain bike with a scarf wrapped around his face and enough layers of clothing to appear as though he was 250 pounds trailing behind. I felt like the nerd fallowing the cool kids around school hoping that the essence of cool would blow off of them and on me.  This fantasy only lasted as long as the road was flat. Once a hill came, the cool kids were gone. They were so far ahead of me I didn’t even get to say goodbye.  Once I got over the biker shun, I focused on the freaking hill that I was huffing and puffing up.  I made it to the top and before long I was jetting down the other side having a blast, always knowing that what I go down I must come back up (I’ll deal with that when I come to it).   At the bottom of the hill was where JP licks was supposed to be…I could not find it.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign.  Not just a Sign…THE sign…THE sign of Signs.  The café was called “PIE” …My breaks where hit and the wheels of my bike were flipped and I was in the store, sitting in front of all sorts of pies in seconds.  This place was great and my stomach knew it.  There were your regular fruit pies, apple, cherry, rhubarb, but then there were allsorts of sweet and savory pies and I wanted them all.  I ended up settling for an eggplant, mozzarella, and tomato “hand pie”  it hit the spot and it gave me enough energy to make it back over that hill.  After finishing my scrumptious snack I headed back on my adventure towards my home.  About halfway up the hill I stopped and took a picture of Mary Baker Eddy’s home (not sure who she is but will find out and will go back to that house because it was beautiful).  After getting over the hill and back into charted territory I was overwhelmed with joy of completing my bike clime.  I was just very proud of my self for learning about other bikers and exploring new places and wanted to take on the next challenge that lay in my path. 

            There was no ice-cream this time around but there was pie. And I think that is worth an equal standing.

TOTAL DISTANCE FOR DAY (TDD) : 7.8 miles

TOTAL TIME FOR THE DAY (TTD) : 50 min

 

TOTAL TIME TRAINING: 4 hrs 15 min

TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED: 31.97 Miles