I think its safe to say that you can now call me a Roadie

Well I think you can safely say that over the past 6 months my lifestyle has certainly changed. This past April I was still struggling through the CPA Exam process. I would work all day and then come home only to study until I could not stay awake...and the weekend, FORGET ABOUT IT! I would put in a got 40 out of 48 hours of studying...I'm the kind of person who does not want to go into a test with any doubts. So basically I studied and studied. The tests were always extremely hard but I got through all 4 in less than a year and they are now behind me forever! Such a great feeling.

This brings me to my main point today. Once I took care of these tests it allowed me to have the free time I have always wanted. I had been doing homework since I was in middle school, and I had usually worked a job on the weekends during high school summers and college as well...So to now come home after work and be free...what an experience!!! I can now start to do the things I've always wanted to do, my passions!..and what I wanted to do was be a triathlete. I have a pretty one track mind so when I get something in my head I just can't get it out..ask anyone that knows me, like my good buddy Josh Gonsenhauser who I recently became good friends with, ironically over cycling, a sport where $$ gets dumped everywhere very quickly...kinda like taking water in during the run portion of a tri..you get it and use it extremely quickly and when its gone you have no idea where it really went.

I'm so into Tri's and Cycling that I've already picked up 2 new bikes in the past 2 months. Kiss my savings goodbye...but WHO CARES!! The bikes I purchased are killer...they are soooo cool and I love them. I ride them every chance I get. To me they are soooo worth it. I mean im 23 with no girlfriend, no mortgage, no real world responsibilities other than showing up to work...which lately has been getting at me but thats beside the point...no worries though i'll show up to work :) All in all to those people who always save save save or hold back on certain things..I SAY Don't "just TRI it" yeah that's a new slogan..how do you like that Nike?? But seriously why regret things you didn't do? I'm having a blast with my bikes, with my new coach, with the new people I have met through who I know consider friends (hope they do to)

Well what I set out to write about today was the fact that you can now consider me a full fledged Roadie based on the fact I have now completed a majority of the items that put you into the Roadie category. Just so you know, in last months Bicycle Magazine, yes go run to your bathroom and get it off the floor (hopefully its not sticking to anything or colored a light yellow...we won't go any further, we cyclists/triathletes are a bit strange) and in the magazine theres a great lists of the 101 signs that your a "Roadie." I now can safely say I fall into the category of having done most of the items listed, however it wasn't until yesterday that I did what I consider the biggest of them all. No, it was not crashing, I have not crashed yet however I do expect to in the future..not really a question of "if" but really "when"...scary to say but whatever, I'm fully prepared with my AWESOME Road ID which everyone should get...you know Craig Alexander wears one!!! If I ever go down the nice ambulance person can just take my limp wrist and be like...oh its Matt with Blue Cross Blue Shield..this is great we don't have to just leave him beside the road because he can't pay his medical bills...so please do yourself a favor and join the road id cult...they are cool and hip, shows your a true endurance athlete or at least a wannabe like me...whichever, the truth is that most people can't tell unless they actually know you or see your exercising, so when that hot chick at the grocery store goes...damn I see your road id and I really like it....wanna go to a movie, dinner, etc...yes thats exactly how it will work. One look at your road id by a smokin hot lady and they will be yours forever (note: if this works please tell me immediately so I can buy like 10 more)..also a funny thing that just popped into my head, what if you got a road id and put some famous persons name on it...like for me I could put matt damon, we are relatively close in size and appearance...sort of..but anyways if you really crashed hard and screwed up your face and stuff and then had this id that said you were matt damon...man you'd get primo treatment i bet, hmmm...hahah.

Alright, im focused, why am I know an official Roadie? Because my former whip, a Lexus IS 250 has been given over to my dad who is in love with it, and I now am driving a Subaru Outback 2.5 XT. Why? Because I can fit my two smoking hot ladies in the back! (ladies meaning bikes) I can now say with a sense of pride and accomplishment that one of the primary reasons I drive the vehicle I drive is because of my cycling/triathlon passion(addiction). And let me tell you that this by no means was a compromise..this outback kicks ass. Its got like 250hp which is much more than the IS and its got this cool little thing called turbo(like my nickname given by Scott at Towpath Bike Shop)..believe me im not suffering here folks. I think I'll really like this ride. I was having so much trouble packing all my tri stuff in my car when I would go to races on the weekend. Between racking the bikes on the back and then not being able to use the trunk I would literally stuff every inch inside the actual car. Now I have soooo much room and its soo nice. I have to give props where due, so a thanks goes to Josh Gonsenhauser at Dorschel Auto in Henrietta. If you need to buy a new/used car get a hold of him and tell them that Matt sent you...well I guess he might probably know you because there are only like 5 people reading this blog and he can just look at those people on the bottom left of this blog...lol. But seriously he's a great dude whose hooked me up with an awesome car and is even letting me use his cycleops trainer...I'll have to pay him back for the use of the trainer someday when my legs and body are the ones that are making money :)...we all gotta dream!

Tip(s) of the day: Listen to Jack Johnson, Ride your bike, run, or swim, and watch the Ironman World Championships today.

-Matt