Bike 2 Work

Bike to Work Week.
A romantic notion that crashes into the reality of meetings, weather and family obligations that comprise the usual rash of excuses which leaves one stuck in a car reading the same tired old bumper stickers like "01.20.09", "Envision Whirled Peas", "I may be slow but I'm ahead of you" or "Stop Continental Drift". Screw That. I had a meeting in the deep south, like in Fairfax County, so I hitched a ride with the wife to Alexandria and then biked the remaining 14 miles to my jobsite near Mt. Vernon, did the meeting then back to the office in Bethesda and then home. 52 miles and hardly saw a car.

One forgets how well endowed our trails are when tears roll out our eyes while screaming down River Road, but if you slow down for a change there are treats along the way, even in Virginia! The GW Parkway Trail hugs the Potomac (slightly flooded during my foray) offering marsh & river views, battlements like Fort Washington & Fort Hunt, colonial charm of Old Town, the industrial brute of Mirant mountaintop-scraping coal-fired power plant, adrenalin pumping game of Chicken with the incoming planes to Washington National (last time I checked we did not live in Reagan, DC) at Gravelly Point, vertigo inducing panoramas atop the Key Bridge and the Rail-to-Trail along the historic C&O Canal up to my work destination.

How could such a trek be better rewarded than by finding my place atop the podium as bike Commuter of the Day in the company of none other than Miss Maryland, USA! Yes it's a tough job but I chose to do it in an effort to save all those other lost souls who need to enjoy cycling at whatever level one partakes. I may be another month away from healing my poor anterior tibialis into racing shape, but at any speed we can take pleasure of being responsible commuters, riding to improve our health and suspend denuding our earth, and read about interesting people under bridges like "Borf" or "Cool Disco Dan" instead of the elementary school Honor Roll while ingesting bong hits of CO2.

The weather could suck. There might be a meeting. A spouse may be waiting. Fugettaboutit. Repeat the mantra:
Work to Eat
Eat to Live
Live to Bike
Bike to Work

BPVC Proverb

Hosed!

After over a month of whining about my shin split tendinitis anterior tibialis muscle strain, the most scruitinzed phisical condition to hit Washington since Gilbert Arenas' bruised knee or Joe Theisman's snapped leg or Bill Clinton's bent, uh, well, anyway today it felt pretty good, taking me on a pain-free commute in (6.25 miles) and home (15 miles), over the hills and far away (like the Led Zeppelin song), but I only did Anglers and let's face it, 21 miles is not too far.

Speaking of whining, my "Buddies" decided to record my tepid return to riding by posting same Frogman with the compression sock (old-man hosiery) prescribed by my P.T. Now you're thinking that a self-respecting cyclist with any sense of style would do the smart thing and stay home or ride on the sidewalk where this fashion attrocity wouldn't be noticed by anyone who mattered.
But I didn't.
In fact I grabbed anything green to announce that I Am Back and by next week ready to take a pull or maybe not get dropped on River. Ambitious? You decide when I rip somebody's legs off besides my own.

P.T. Cruiser

So I'm walking gingerly back from my Physical Therapy session when I see - OH, first about my P.T.: My anterior tibialis was getting no better for like 4 weeks until I started my visits and between Western electrical stimulation, ultrasound, compression to the point of mummification and later Eastern fascia alignment, energy points and spinal massage earning positive results enough to take a 16 mile ride along MacArthur & Persimmon Tree with only a dull throb to remind me to take it easy. Since it essentially feels like a shin splint, I've been thinking about how to seriously cross train including running on my flat frog feet to strengthen those regions. How? I have no idea.

Flashback to walking back from PT when I glance into the patio of the Harp & Fiddle when I see an old architecture colleague chatting it up with a couple of babes (attractive women). We order more Guinness and catch up only to find out that he has completely bagged his architectural career in favor of Personal Training (PT)! He's totally into it and assures me he won't look back. I'm totally wondering if he'd set me up with a recovery program.
A serendipitous encounter for sure.

It takes a lot of cajones to go through one of the most gruelling graduate programs only to practice for 5 years and turn your back on the whole thing, even while still paying your student loans! But I respect the resolve to make the decision and confidently move on. I know it's the right thing for him, and a good PT may be the right thing for me.