Dear Tarckbike,
I am asking for you for council on some bicycle lifestyle related matters. I am also just needing a place to sort this out, and thought this forum would be a good because I trust and respect all of your opinions on this matter.
I’m having a rough transition into WorkLife. Simply, I’m lonely as fuck.
I graduated at the end of summer and started a careerish full-time job immediately. Bikemute is 24 mile round trip and workday is about 8-10 hours. Bikemute takes about 2 hours of travel time give or take 30 minutes for my overall condition that day.
Generally, I leave the house at 8:15am and get home between 7 and 9pm. I make a quick meal in the morning and evening, and then relax for an hour or less before going to bed between 10-11pm. During those last two hours of the day are where I see my two roommates. These two are usually the only connection that I have come to find consistent.
Where I’m struggling:
WorkLife doesn’t have me engaged with too many people on a face to face level.
BikeMute has the potential for magnifying the isolation, it has also served as a healing solitude from a lonely day at work.
Here’s my Mindfuck:
I’m getting desperate to fix this. I need some real connection, a community and possibly more time in my week for taking care of other needs beyond work, travel, eating and sleeping. I daydream about my options, which reduces productivity at work, and I exhaust myself in process by weighing my options and hypothesizing.
The Options I currently see are for attempting to solve this are:
-HTFU and wait until clarity on the matter is more obvious. and in the meantime, seek connection with more people in the local cycling community. Start racing Cross on the weekends. This would require me to spend money on a CX bike, which would lock me into this path…
-Buy a car (…) This would enable me so much more than just working more and with more energy. I’d be able to go other places too and get away from the city more. It would also most likely will put me under the weight of needing to rearrange much of my budgeting for making sure payments are taken care of. Along with the liability of becoming lazy and disconnected from BikeLyfe. This would also help me build my photography business by having more flexibility to meet with clients.
-Fuck a car, Move to North Portland, closer to work. Initially, This will likely isolate me the most. I will be leaving my roommates, and going to a new neighborhood where I will have no support structure built up. This however, might be the step toward finding my next and healthier community, because I will be able to have more time to venture out and mingle.
-The ultimate gagglefuck would be a combo of all these, but Isn’t really an option, rather a tremendous daydream. I could probably swing it for a few months before the money runs out.
I’m trying to be mindful about this, and wish I could just set it down, relax and be ok with where I am.
Your thoughts?