REVISION:
This morning....last night...


It is tough for me to realize that not everybody wants to hear my anecdotes of parenting
not even other parents want to hear someone go on and on about how great or advanced their child is
or how little sleep they are functioning on each day

so I have deleted this previous entry and started from scratch
removed all the banter about Grant's cold and Dean's nightmares
no one cares about Lisa and my having to alternate getting up mid night to talk Dean down from hysterics
sure Dean and Grant are cute, but no one wants to log in for a daily play by play of a child's growth

so I will bypass the tales of 9 month old Grant's endless climbing of the stairs
or
Dean's expressing his 3 year old version of adolescence by not wanting to do anything and definitely not wanting to go to school

in an effort to keep things cool at work
I have swapped for the late shift at every opportunity; every Monday at least
it is tough to make it in to work at my set 9am in time with my duties as a father with both kids before Soledad arrives to watch Grant which frees me up to take Dean across town to his daycare facility on the Trinity College campus, only to return to walk the dogs

with a 11 am in time I have the freedom to do these things without that classic Dagwood Bumstead spastic acceleration
and if I am hyper efficient I am also given some time to take a quick spin on the bike before arriving at work
with the early darkness morning rides are key, although last night I dipped into the woods with a single head lamp mounted on the helmet

the fall weather is cool and crisp
nearly all the leaves have fallen from the trees which adds that extra interesting variable when mountainbiking on single track
sort of a mystery of what is under all the leaves

with only 50 minutes to make it to work I had to move briskly
I headed down Park Road towards the trail
made a hesitant shortcut on a path I had never taken before
it bisected a switch back on the road that would all add up to making me late
even if it was only 30 yards; it cut off what may be a half mile in a direction I need not go
it was an exciting 30 yards as I had no idea what was hidden under the leaves
cautiously crossed Rock Creek Parkway and got onto the bikepath
once on the bike path I started to spin vigorously in an effort to assure that I could make it to work on time
failure to make it into work by 11am would defeat the purpose of switching shifts
I crossed a foot bridge over the creek and started in on a turn
not sure if I tapped my front brake too hard
or if I was taking the turn too fast
but it felt like someone had pulled the world out from under me
once second I was an invincible super hero
the next I was a lost lonely child crying out for his mommy
it was a painful slam and slide
I was back on my feet leaping around like a drunken kangaroo as I accessed the damage
no dislocated shoulder
no broken wrist
both legs seemed in tact
no damage to helmet
no damage to head
still doing what may have appeared to be an Indian Rain Dance to any onlooker
just as I was about to regain composure another commuter made the turn on his bike
only with a little less speed
and
a whole lot more control
he slowed, stopped, and offered me some assistance
I felt that I had not been terribly injured and was confident that the bike would still roll
we chatted as I mounted the Surly Karate Monkey Single Speed and started to pedal along side of this Czech Republic stranger commuting to work at the late hour of 10:10 in the am

we rode along side of each other
I bailed on the cultural exchange for a romp into the woods
the fellow commuter on the road bike moved along the path
and
I turned uphill onto some dirt

I made the cross town ride through half mile section of trail only to cross the road
and link back up to another three quarter mile of trail
and so on
and so on
until I was in Georgetown back on the city streets
wrestling with traffic
running the lights
racing the train

I arrived to work at 11am sharp
ran up the back stairs put my bike away
then went into the office
showed my boss the raspberry on my hip like a third grader shows off his loose tooth or his black eye
my boss was not entirely excited to see my peel down my tights
as he is a tad conservative and such things make him uneasy
(the photos of me wearing the cheerleader outfit gave him nightmares)

the urban woods ride had been moderately mellow
the crash had stolen some of the wind from my sails
to be humbled is vital
we need these little speed checks in life to keep up from getting too cocky
confidence is one thing
arrogance is idiocy

even with the crash
the raspberry on the hip
the sore shoulder
the bruised shin
it all adds up to what it means to be a mountainbiker

such is life being me

the work day went well
most of the day was spent at a remote site on Capitol Hill in the Capitol Building
it is fun to get out of the office