a bit wet on my way home from work tonight

I got a bit wet on my way home from work today

seldom do I watch the weather
correction...
I watch the weekend weather when I have weekend plans (ie. racingor riding)
or the weather before vacations (as in last weekend's ski weekend)

while normally I do not plan much for the weather
my clothing for the bike is usually dictated by the morning walk with the dog

this morning things were spring warm
so I wore knickers and a short sleeve jersey
over the jersey was a think reflective windbreaker cycling vest
this seemed like plenty of coverage for the temperature of the day

work had me surrounded today
no thought of trying to exit early
spent the day knocking shit out and making things happen
got out on time but not a second early
was on the bike and rolling by five after five

spun the franken fixie fast through the traffic of georgetown then onto the capital crescent trail
the trail was lacking its normal rush hour cluster
very few runners and very few riders
about halfway to bethesda the air around me went from a gentle mist to a heavy downpour
no question... I was under dressed
no question... I was soaked

had the initial desire to hammer to Conn Ave and then backtrack to Georgetown then home
the rain had me cut things short
which was perfect
I was looking for an excuse to cut things short
was bonking hard
the salad I had for lunch was not sustaining me
while the afternoon coffee had burned off long ago

light headed I worked fast little circles on this under geared machine

the rain let up as I reached downtown bethesda
by this time I was beyond soaked... I was fully saturated
starting to question the contents of my pack
could my dead camera become any more dead?

took the shortest trajectory home from the point where the capital crescent trail meets bethesda ave
cut through chevy chase maryland towards chevy chase dc

as I meandered through this familiar path I looked at unfamiliar houses
houses that were in place of houses that were there before
little bungalows had been replaced by massive mc mansions
my memory is all that remains

after crossing conn ave towards brookville I saw neatly stacked gatherings of trash on the sidewalk
my heart rate accelerated
like a kid on christmas I scanned the piles as I passed
is it? could it be? maybe it is... trash or treasure in chevy chase maryland?

I passed a men's and woman's schwinn ready for pick up on the curb
I kept rolling without consideration
as I was always a Raliegh man

the light was starting to dim
I had no headlamp
but I was confident that I had enough light to make it home through the park
my pack has an assortment of blinking lights which aid in being seen
there is enough daylight to see
my sunglasses had been removed due to moisture some time ago

rolled up to mount pleasant street to grab a couple of six packs
snagged a Magic Hat and a Flying Dog
as I loaded the beers on my Cetma rack I wondered if this beer would be good enough for Icon O Classt
then wondered if the bungee cords were good enough to hold the two six packs in place

I crossed my fingers and toes as I rolled the final blocks home

got home without a beer slipping free and smashing on the pavement beside me
slipped out of my wet riding gear
then walked the dog in the woods with grant

we had dinner
now it is homework
some reading to the kids
then off to bed
wondering if our National Bike Summit guest from Colorado will arrive before or after bedtime
a stealth arrival would be best
the boys do not need any distractions to keep them up late
they stay up late just fine on their own

correct... no pictures
saw meredith at corner of Park and Mount Pleasant
we exchanged hellos
we exchanged remarks about the other's front mounted racks
no pictures
as there is no camera
which means there are no pictures