In Which Fall Rides Begin With Less Pain

Sunrise on C Avenue at Rockwell-Collins pond. It's nice to be a bike commuter on a morning like this.

As expected, a cold front passed through and summer turned suddenly to late summer. Not quite early fall, in feel yet, but long pants aren't so strange to wear for a bike commuter.

I had to leave early this morning to get some grading done before a class, but that has its own rewards, as you can see. Beautiful sunrise in a partly cloudy sky.

The ride felt really great this morning—partly due to the beautiful light of a late summer sun, partly due to the break in humidity and the lower air temperature. And then there are my legs.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a nasty gash, courtesy of Francis, on the front of my right leg. The bike tipped as I was trying to remove a granddaughter from the toddler seat, and the pedal bit me.

I don’t know if it’s related, but the metal clips I wear when biking in dress pants have been really bothering me lately—feeling more painful on my ankles. Maybe my ankles are just tired of them.

Anyway, I have been wearing them with the gap facing to the front for months. This morning, for no particular reason other than the gash on the front of my leg is largely healed, so I can try it, I reversed direction.

The band, facing the other way, not hurting me.

What? Little to no discomfort—a biker with a more empirical mental bent would have discovered that months ago, darn it.

But would he enjoy the sunrise as much? Probably. His legs would feel fine.