Hi all,

I've been staying off here for my mental health--my bike has been 200 miles away since Thanksgiving (to make my impending move easier), and I'm a little too competitive with myself and others, so it's frustrating to read about rides when I want to head out, but can't. You know what I mean.

Right now it's not really riding weather, but I could use the stress relief. Why? I got a round of rejections from every PhD program I applied to. Well, rejections from all but one, and nothing but silence from that, which I take to be an implicit rejection. So I'm waiting to hear back from the MS program (which may take a while), and I'm moving back in with my parents and job hunting. The good news is that if I get into the MS program, it's in a city with a number of bike paths (though they're not all connected yet), and the area in which I'd likely be living is rather less urban than where I'm currently living. Better for bikes, not so great for walking. It's a wash.

Hopefully you're all doing well, and I'll see you more often when I can get back on the bike. Hopefully by the time I get back to Cincinnati, it'll have stopped raining so much (it's a wonder my apartment hasn't flooded yet), and the trees will be somewhat less enthusiastic about it being spring.

Happy riding!