Always moving forward, a new position for Bernstein

Exactly three years ago tonight I was a green reporter two days into my new job at The Saratogian and covering a hotly-contested local election for the five seats on the Saratoga Springs city council. 

Now, I'm a veteran of three other election cycles (two regular and one special election) for everything from another round of local elections to congressional (2), judicial (1), and presidential (1) polls. Covering politics, though I could never have imagined doing it while in college, was always fun and election night was the culmination of months of difficult reporting on every side of every issue. 

So, tonight, as I sit home alone desperately hitting "reload" on my browser, I feel oddly disconnected from the process. 

Perhaps that's OK -- it's time for the next thing, in which I won't have to worry much about attending election night celebrations.

Tomorrow, I'm driving down to Emmaus, Pennsylvania, the vicinity of which I'll be moving to later this month, to start a new position as Gear Editor at Bicycling Magazine. 

As readers doubtless know, Bicycling is the nation's largest cycling publication, and as Gear Editor, I'll be charged with bringing new levels of cohesion to the magazine's Gear section. I'm honored to have been given an opportunity at such a well-loved magazine, and I can't wait to get started. 

Of course, I'm very sad to be leaving Saratoga Springs, my home of seven years, and all the many friends I have here. 

Earlier this week I sent an email to friends to inform them of my move. The response was overwhelming, and nearly everyone put into words the very same sentiment that I feel: "How wonderful for you, but we're sad to see you go."

One cyclist, who I've got to know through riding (how else?) over the past two years put it thusly: "Their gain is our loss." True. Hopefully, though, as I have more opportunities to meet the movers and doers in the cycling industry and play with exciting new toys, this move will be a gain not only for Bicycling and me, but also to all of my readers as well. 

I don't know much about Pennsylvania, other than that there was once a lot of coal there, but I'm looking forward to getting settled in my new home. I do know that there is a great cycling community there, and I'm looking forward to bring my upstate riding skills to a new peloton. With the proximity to the velodrome at Trexlertown, I may have to put drop bars on my track bike and give racing on the boards a shot! 

My tentative plan is to relocate sometime early in the week of the 22nd -- a day after my 26th birthday. Feel free to offer suggestions on where to live in the Lehigh Valley. And my sweet apartment is now up for grabs -- available after Thanksgiving. Let me know if you want it! 

Thanks, as always for reading, and I look forward to having new tales to tell on the pages of GBBM once I've arrived in PA. Until then, get ready for stories about apartment hunting.