Summer? Schway.
I’ve got an opportunity. A company that runs fully-supported cross-country group rides is looking to hire an assistant mechanic. If I got this job, I would ride my bike across the continental United States with free meals and lodgings for three months, I’d get paid to fix the bikes of other riders, and I could easily make more money than I would if I was being paid to do something I wouldn’t enjoy nearly as much.
The only problem with this plan is that it will most likely consume my entire summer, save for a few days at the ass-end in August. I wouldn’t be able to do any of the things I’ve been planning on doing, like spending weeks on the East coast with family and friends, or the same thing on the West coast for that matter. I wouldn’t be able to re-record the 20 tracks of the album High-Five Lo-Fi with Jon, I wouldn’t be able to make a movie with Molly, I wouldn’t be able to start a rockabilly fusion band with Goldy, I wouldn’t be able to play with my mom’s new kittens Presta and Schrader, I wouldn’t get to curl up in my bed and sleep for days on end.
But I would get to ride my bike through what promises to be some of the most beautiful parts of this country. I would get to make a living doing something I love, something most people pay over a grand for the chance to do. I would get to keep a travelogue. I would get to improve my talents in many adjacent fields. I would get to tune this body in to the well-oiled machine it ought to be. I would get to tune countless undoubtedly fancy bikes.
All things considered, I can’t think of any reason to not pursue this job with everything in me. I still need to send in an application and resume, so any advice concerning methods for effective coverletter/resume/skill-set writing would be greatly appreciated. I hope all this excitement isn’t for naught.
Update: For naught. I’m just not 21 years old enough for them.