It has been a great summer and adding the commuter rail from Worcester to Boston has been quite an experience.  It has been great to get a taste of the “real world” commute over the past few months.  Sure, it’s summer so I haven’t had to brave the worst parts of the New England seasons but it’s a solid start.  I feel like it has added another dimension to my ability to comment of carfree living.  The biggest difference are the pace, prep and appearance.  It is one thing to bike around Worcester and maintain a certain level of relaxed professionalism.  My life in Worcester as a student and start-up owner allows a large amount of flex when it comes to defining “professionalism” but my life in Boston heading to the financial district, up to the 6th floor to my office offers very little pliability in attire.  I’m lucky that my office is a casual environment where jeans are welcome on more than just Friday but that is about as far as is acceptable in the casual side(at least for someone who is new and unproven, like me).  It could be much more difficult, I could be in a suit everyday and have to deal with all the added struggles of that.

While that sounds pretty tough, it leads my next hurdle.  The Fall! I’ll be staying on at my summer internship this fall one day per week(it’s all my schedule will allow) in a slightly different capacity.  This new position will require much more outside interaction with business owners, financial firms, VCs, etc and in turn require a much more professional look for my face to face meetings.  If I’m doing my job right, there should be a bunch of those!

But that is a problem for another post/day!  Today, I choose to reflect on my time and look forward to the future.  This summer has been way too short but really productive and fun!  I gained valuable experience in the Clean Energy sector that will continue this fall. But I’m most proud of my start-up United Hydroponics, INC which via much hard work of my partners secured a valuable contract and purchasing agreement in the past month to push us to the final step to success, raising capital.  While it’s the part of the process I’m least familiar with, it’s made much easier with a great concept, business plan and dedicated team working on the financials all supported by contracts to create revenue immediately. Enough about that, this is about CarFreeBrad!

I’m most proud to announce that my GF has been talking about triathlon and is investigating getting herself a road bike!  That makes me SO happy, because as much as I love commuting by bike and find the solitude of a long ride relaxing, it is so much more fun to share a good hard long ride out into the country with others.  Not to mention it makes actually getting out to the house that much easier.  I can’t say that she will all of a sudden have dreams of long hilly trips into the vast central mass country but I’ll take what I can get even if it starts with a 20 minute leisure ride every few weeks!

All in all, things are looking up for the fall!  So if you are a Worcester rider and want someone to find/know some good ride routes, let me know.  I’ll be looking…….