Let me tell you about my commute today.

I had a major disconnect between my brain and my gut this morning. My brain knew it was Friday. I knew I had a weekly teleconference to attend at 9:30 am. Now, I had intended to ride to work yesterday. Things didn’t work out, and I deferred my ride to today instead. However, this morning, when setting out on my ride, my instinct was stuck on the day I had intended to ride: yesterday/Thursday.

Why does that matter?

Well, for the past 6 weeks and for the next 4 weeks or so, from Thursday night until Monday morning, some major construction is closing a small chunk of trail on my normal and most direct route to work. It makes a big difference, because right from my driveway, I would head in opposite directions depending on if it was Thursday or Friday. I went the Thursday direction this morning.

The trail closure comes at just about the halfway point between home and the office. It’s at the bottom of the valley, at a suspended pedestrian/cycling bridge under a freeway, over the river. There is no alternate route, no detour. There is a sign indicating that the trail is closed at the top of the valley. But when the sign is on the other side of a fence, 20 feet from the path, angled slightly away from the path, and I’m riding into the blinding sun, I think I can be forgiven for missing it.



So I had to backtrack about 3/4 of the way back home, at which point I had to decide whether to just go back all the way, change, and drive to work, or continue riding and take the long way. I didn’t know what time it was (my phone was in my backpack), but some quick math told me I might still be able to make it to the office by 9:30 (left home at 8:15, estimated it took about 30 minutes to get to the closure and back to the decision point, about 45 minutes to the office from that point = 9:30). Besides, the TC was another pointless meeting that rarely accomplishes anything, and so what if I was late? Or miss it entirely? So I rode.

Pulled into the office at 9:26.

Y’know, it was a pretty nice morning for a bike ride. A bit chilly (just above freezing), but hardly a breeze. Thick fog in the valley. I would have liked to take more pictures, but I was in a bit of a rush.



Oh, and the TC was a complete waste of time. Some general chit chat for several minutes among the more talkative folks, then realizing we had no business to discuss. My life is a Dilbert comic.

Have a great weekend everyone. It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend!