Well, at least I remembered the important stuff...

Welcome to spring in the south.

With the advent of pollen season (which is mercifully short-lived but seems to go on forever...especially if you make the mistake of opening your windows to let the "fresh" air inside...not that I've been known to do that or anything. Nope. Not me.)

pollen 1: caddy 0

So, where was I?

Oh, right. With the advent of nice weather it was time to get back to riding to work. I took the commuter in for new brake pads and cables last week and took it for a quick ride over the weekend to make sure everything was running smoothly. Last night I pulled the child trailer out of the shed and reassembled it.



in the bike stroller for the first time last year

Then I went through the ritual of getting everything ready the night before. Work clothes packed. Lunch ready and in the fridge. Child excited to get back into her "bicycle stroller". Yep, I'm ready.

Up at 6:45. Bed made. Coffee made. Just need to put my stuff into my messenger bag, throw on my riding clothes, and get the child dressed and out the door.

And then forward progression came to a screeching halt. According to my child she owns no "fancy" shirts and as a result could not get dressed. I have yet to figure our what defines "fancy" since it seems to be a moving target and subject entirely to my child's whims. I also would like to kill the author of the Fancy Nancy series, whoever it was that bought the first book for Brenna, and myself for not hiding it in a deep dark place in the crawl space until Brenna left for college.

35 minutes later...

Brenna is finally dressed in something she deems fancy (a pink sparkly dress and blue leggings- even though it's supposed to be in the upper 70's today- blue and white stripped socks and her new sandals that light up each time she takes a step so she insists on stomping everywhere. good times). Discarded "non-fancy" clothes are strewn willy-nilly but are at least contained within the confines of her room. Her helmet is on her head. My helmet is on my head. And we are finally out the door...

It takes me 1 block to begin the discovery process of what I forgot:

• 1st traffic light (one block from home): Front blinky headlight - nope, don't have it
• 1 mile from home: Secure attachment for rear blinky light - nope, light went flying off with the first big section of crappy pavement (I retrieved it)
• upon arrival at my desk (7 miles from home): Glasses - not only am I not married but I'm going to have a blinding headache from squinting at everything for the next 9 hours

But at least I remembered all the important things:

• Child
• Self
• Bike
• Underwear

So, all in all, a successful first commute of the season.