Friday is National Bike to Work Day. On past occurrences of this day, I would ride my bike to the Park; sample Trailnet’s complementary breakfast offerings in front of the History Museum, bike back home, shower and change, and then drive to work. I knew that I was missing the point of the day, but I felt that getting out there, “representing” was the important thing to do, and what I did afterwards was only secondary. I did actually ride to work once, on National Bike to Work Day. I followed my typical MO, with biking to the Park, followed by breakfast in front of the History Museum, but this year was different, breakfast came with a floor show.

One of the TV network’s morning shows was there. Gas prices must have been high that year, because the roving reporter was traveling cross-country in a Prius. She was headed east to west, while her counterpart, some guy, was headed west to east in a gas guzzling SUV. The reporter had stopped in Saint Louis for a bike to work photo-op and was there in front of the History Museum that morning. We milled around for an interminable period of time and I pretty much resigned myself to being late to work that morning. Eventually the TV show’s director lined us remaining riders up for the shot, briefed the reporter on the shot and then had to explain to her how to operate the bicycle. Apparently, bicycling was not one of her avid pursuits. The cameras rolled, she spoke her lines, turned to us, the crowd, and called out, “Let’s ride!”

She went forward, and after a pause we were directed to pursue. Immediately after exiting the camera’s FOV, the reporter fell off her bike. Fortunately, we mere extras were able to avoid her. Reviewing the show’s footage that evening, I saw a couple of my limbs in the sequence, but that’s all. In order to make up some of the lost time, I biked to the closest MeroLink stop. I rode that to its closest stop to work and saved some time, it is still considered kosher to ride the train on Bike to Work Day.

Friday, Anne and I will bike in the early AM, maybe as far as the History Museum, but maybe not, we’ll see. Anyway, that is the plan. Anne wants to keep her streak going for at least one more day. Today, we fly to LA, so like past year’s I’ll take a car up to the airport. I just can’t see taking a couple of bikes as carry-on. The plan is to rent a car at LAX and drive to Monterey. Flights were considerably cheaper into LA than the Bay Area, besides this way, we’ll get to have lunch with Dan. So, we’ll wheel out on to the 405, which is always an adventure and then head north. So stay tuned, it should get interesting.

The animated GIF with this post is from our crossing of the Mackinac Bridge last summer. It really has nothing to do with this trip, except that Cousin Anne always posts a shot of this bridge whenever she heads north over it, when she heads home. I had created the GIF a while ago, but could never find an opportune moment to use it with. This trip memorizing my mother’s crossing over, seemed to me to be that moment.