The GeekHiker

(Update: sorry if anyone tried to comment earlier and couldn’t. WordPress published the post, and everyone could see it, but left it’s status as “unpublished”. Weirdness.)

I can’t deny that after putting up the last post I was a bit weary of typing, so I’ve largely eschewed it for the last couple of days.

Can’t deny either that I was plenty nervous to put it up. Wasn’t sure if it was too long. Wasn’t sure it was too much information. Wasn’t sure how people would react to it.

The moment I clicked on “publish”, even before the comments came in, I felt a whole lot better about the whole thing. As though all the over-thinking I was doing about the whole matter got poured into the post, and once I threw it out there, it was off my mind and, well, out there.

Of course, the comments have been great as well, and I shall comment on those below, rather than on the original post.

So it was that I rolled into the weekend much calmer and, dare I say it, happier than the previous weekend. Of course, not having a loud damn party and people peeing outside my front door helped quite a bit as well.

And so it was as well that Saturday found me cruising down the South Bay Bicycle Path, and found myself wondering why I don’t haul the bike out more often.

I’ve blogged about the path before, but arriving in the afternoon this time, I decided to go the other way, north, all the way to Temescal Canyon so I would have a tailwind at my back on the return. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera at home, so I can’t really blog this ride, but now having ridden both halves of the path, I’ve got a new goal: to start at one end of the path and do the whole round trip.

Preferably with a stop for a cool lunch in the middle.

I’m kinda surprised I don’t ride more often. Solo riding is a unique experience, especially when you’re away from the crowds and can slip into that zen state: wind at your back, pedals moving up and down in their steady rhythmic motion, the sound of the rubber against the pavement.

It’s a nice way to clear the head and think. Such as: why is it that LA, a town made for biking year-round, provides this beautiful path along the beach, but no way for me to ride to work and not be playing in traffic?

Why is it that so many women wear such heavy makeup to the beach? Why have they never passed a law requiring guys with man-boobies to wear t-shirts? Will the next girl I date, and who would presumably ride at some point with me, look so hot in a pair of bike shorts all the guys get jealous she’s going home with me?

Hey, I can dream.

One of my favorite little parts, though, was riding under the Santa Monica Pier, where you can smell the creosote from the old pilings. The smell always reminds me of things like the railroad museum as a kid. Or times along the trail when they use old creosote-soaked ties to build stairs. It’s one of those smells that reminds me of good things.

With roughly thirty miles of riding done, I returned home to leftover pizza, (courtesy of arriving home juuust in time from working late Friday and ordering delivery 10 minutes before the pizza joint closed. Score!), and settled in on the couch for a night of Netflixed movies (I’ve given in to the proddings of The Best Friend and am trying it out; I suspect she’s right and I’m already hooked).

And really, one can’t say this is a bad way to end the day: starting the second movie, with a warm fresh white peach from the local farmers market, cut up and put over melting vanilla ice cream.

No, nothing changed radically since what I posted earlier this week. In another way, though, everything did. Life ain’t too shabby.

* * *

I promise I shall catch up on everyone’s blogs tomorrow. Really.

For tonight, I’ll respond to the last post, which generated some of the deepest and most interesting comments I think I’ve yet received…

Mel Heth – LOL, 3,000+ words and I never even talked about the cause. In my case it was tea, which I’d started drinking regularly at work about a year before. It has the same substance as in all those other foods, and is also in great things like cranberries. Figures it’s in all the foods I love. Anyway, I hope you don’t think my natural shyness has made me any less appreciative of your thoughts and gestures; if anything, it’s made me more so.

Dingo – I have yet to reply to your e-mail, but I will do so… promise!

SingleFabulous – Thanks and, as you can see from above, yes it does. Oooh, let’s hope anyone I meet likes the real me!

Ms. H – Heh, sorry. You bring up an interesting point that I neglected to talk about: I don’t have a lot of guy friends either. Never have, to be honest. Never really been able to figure out why. It was obvious at certain points (i.e. college), when guys are totally obsessed with the whole “I’m more guy than you” thing, and there are some guys I’m friends/acquaintances with fine (such as The Best Friend’s boyfriend). Interesting. Anyway, if I figure any of this out, I will let you know… or ask you to buy my book. 😉

Narami – I wonder what links all those that you know, stones-wise? Heh. I try my best to be open as I can, meeting people through activities, joining conversations, etc. Nothing seems to have quite “clicked” for whatever reason (hence the occasional bit of frustration). LOL – so glad to know I can lay out my problems so well!

East Coast Teacher – I figured there were others out there like me, probably many more who didn’t comment as well…

Gabe – I did read and comment on your post. I know how you feel when it comes to those “contact” and “next of kin” sections on forms, believe me. As to how I got here… I dunno. Sometimes you end up at a place in life having just kind of floated there, no matter what efforts you made not to, you know?

Just A Girl – You make me blush. The times we hung out were both great fun, and I know from our discussions that you have felt the same at times as well. And yes, I know, your only real goal is to drive the truck. 😉

Marie – Thanks, although I have to admit being able to see it with humor comes only with hindsight! I agree that the comments everyone has left have been wonderful, and I like the way you blur the line between online and off…

Charlotte – I agree, you never do know about how things will turn out in the offline world. Although I cited PR Girl as an example in the post, I don’t blame her for not “clicking” with me in the real world (oh, sure, I did at the time, but isn’t that always the way?). As for “being available”, I’ve always tried to be that. Even for those who I thought were friends, though, I never seemed to be the one they would call…

Backpacker Momma – I see what you are saying, but we are in different boats my friend. I have no wife or child from which I must seperate myself from my social life, you see…

TheCoconutDiaries – LOL, I gave my parents new gym waterbottles for Christmas, then found out later that they were the one’s with the bad chemicals. They weren’t, thankfully, thinking I was out to get them… slowly. Man, I could use a good wing-woman! I agree that the shyness is down, but I think the fact that I’ve met a couple of readers and are talking with meeting more is what made the shyness come back up before I posted. Thanks.

Dingo – LOL, don’t worry, I still plan to respond.

Rachael – Honestly, I’m not so worried as I once was. Hell, if they’ve read all this and still want to meet, they have only themselves to blame! 🙂

Homer-Dog – Me? Eloquent? *blush* That was very similar to what happened in the nearly five years with The Ex: I glommed on to her friendship base. Truth be told, I’m rather hoping I can make some friends before I end up in another relationship, just for some balance! You’re quite welcome.

LY – LA is a difficult town, and there are so many possible reasons, am I right? I hope that you do gain that confidence in yourself, but I know where you’re coming from: when you’re feeling down about one or more aspects of your life, it’s difficult to have confidence in yourself at those moments (“if I’m such a great person, why doesn’t anyone call”). Thanks for sharing. 🙂