Catherine dropped me off at work yesterday morning, and I called it a day around 4:00.
It's a strange feeling when something ends after being a major part of your life for a long time (for me, 3 years and 7 months counts as a long time). I'm looking forward to going back to school, but I'll miss going to the office every morning, as strange as that may sound. And I'll miss my coworkers much more.
I've been lucky to work with some great people for the last few years, and I consider all of them my friends. We went to lunch on Thursday and we ate cupcakes and said our goodbyes on Friday, but after that I went home and that was that. They'll be back on Monday, and I won't. I guess that's life.
At about the same time I was leaving one part of my life behind, I decided to revisit another. I renewed my cycling license on Thursday and I raced the Tour de Park City this morning. It went about as well is you'd expect, given my preparation, which means it couldn't have been more different from last year's race. I guess I should be happy I at least managed to finish before the masters pack ran me down, although just barely.
Being back in the pack felt a lot like visiting LA after having been gone for so long--it used to be home, and it could be again, but it definitely isn't right now. And although it's nice to visit, you don't want to stay too long.
I don't know if I ever said so, but I thought I had left cycling behind, at least for this part of my life. And as I rode over Bald Mountain Pass all I was thinking about was the trails and running in the mountains, so maybe I have. Who knows.
For anyone who's interested, I've posted a rambling, yet more detailed report on my FRB page.
Me and my support crew. The day wasn't all bad.