days on and days off

funny...
I am never really on my bike long enough to merit a day off
but...
there are days on the bike and there are days off the bike
today was a day off the bike

left work headed the opposite direction from home
was on the karate monkey single
not far into my ride
actually just a few blocks from the office I got a call
the wife was stuck in traffic
I needed to shoot for home and free the baby sitter

a glance at the watch showed that I did not have much time
but I did not need to shoot straight home
so I continued away from home

early in the ride there was a cyclist close along side of me
not much faster than my ss 29er geared for mountain
so I picked up my spin and pulled out my camera
snapped the shot of what may have been a commuter in courier gear
but... my photo objective is not to capture the courier culture
my objective is to document the cycling culture
and well... the wannabe courier is part of the courier culture

a few shots and a few blocks
then our trajectories went in different directions

continued to the base of the hill and then well... rather than pushing forward I decided to head towards home and free the babysitter and hang with the kids

on my ride home the camera came out a few more times
passed my old friend scotty
but did not catch his picture
then caught up with the second place winner from last friday night's alleycat
he slowed for some conversation and some photographs
but our ride split as our objectives pointed us in different directions

still again on my ride home there were more photos to take
the battery was failing and I was running out of time
but I snapped away haphazardly at superdave as we caught up and discussed my geared bike issue
which confused dave as he was clearly working on diagnosing my single speed issue
an issue that was audible as we rode

a few pictures of dave
then another split
the camera going in the pocket
tried to be gentle climbing 13th street into columbia heights
was not looking to break that chain
the popping and skipping from the missing barrels has me anxious

rolled into home
freed the babysitter and was immediately attacked by two shirtless monkeys
wrestled the boys then mom got home
I got dinner together while the wife walked the dog
which means I took the boys to pick up some Thai food
an adventure for the boys
some time alone with the dog for mom

dinner
then some more wrestling
then dean got to play uno with me as mom read grant some stories
finally off to bed