A Craptastic Commute

I feel exceedingly fortunate while I'm bike commuting. I feel this way when I see traffic backing up or people slumped behind the wheel fighting to gain a few more feet. Rain or shine my mind is racing; one side of my brain is having fun riding the bike while the other side wanders happily from one thought to the next.

This is what happens during the ride.

Before the ride things are different. I am busy getting ready; the usual three S's, make lunch, let daughter help make lunch, find my bike clothes, play with daughter, get daughter and wife out the door, find the rest of my bike clothes... etc.  It's in this frantic pace that I sometimes forget how fortunate I am, especially on a crappy day like today. I have already acclimated to the warmer days and this 40 degree rainy shitfest isn't very inspiring.  I bitch and moan to myself and sheepishly ask my wife for a ride into the office, she calls me a pussy... point taken.

After they leave, I bitch and moan some more... I'm gonna get soaked and cold and when I get to the office I'll be soaked even more so. I'll have to set up the shanty town, ring out my socks in the parking garage and hope everything dries for the ride home... there's nothing worse than putting cold wet bike clothes back on, etc.

I finally get ready and force myself to push off from the front porch. One side of my brain immediately started having fun while the other thought about pollen, then bees, then if Hesher is going to be any good and if Osama was wearing shoes when they got him and when will chanterelles come back and so on and it seemed my craptastic commute ended the moment I started pedaling.