Japanese Garden Bridge

The photo with this post is of a bridge. It is symbolic of the journey we take tonight, from one year to the next. It is a crooked bridge, for a crooked path. It is a path more across time than space. So, goodbye 2011 and hello, 2012! We’ll see you all on the other side. Alright, enough of this metaphysical mumbo jumbo, let’s get back to the real world. Let’s go to where the rubber meets the road, the bike tire rubber that is.

Anne and I launched towards the park, but our goal was Lafayette Park and Park Avenue Coffee. Our mission was to deliver a Christmas present to Kubie. Anne had knitted her a hat. We got there early and had pumpkin spiced lattes to while away the time. Mission accomplished, we headed for home. Have I left anything out? Oh yeah, there was our little run-in with the law.

This being New Year’s Eve the SLPD and likely all law enforcement agencies are on heightened alert. On our out-bound leg we were not, but we should have been. We were cruising east on Clayton Avenue, passing by the Barnes Hospital complex, which is always a ghost town on a Saturday. We came upon a stop sign, looked around, but didn’t see anyone. So, we did what we always do, we made a Saint Louis stop and just rolled right through it without actually stopping. We should have checked six, because right behind us was a SLPD patrol car. He chirped his siren, rolled down his rear window and as he moved on, let his canine partner chew us out. Whoop! Woof! Woof! Don’t let the dogs out! Whoop! Woof! Woof! Who let the dogs out? So if you are going out tonight, drive carefully.

We rode 27 miles today, which is longer than we normally ride, and is also counterintuitive to our expected goal of staying up to midnight tonight. The reason for this exercise was to give Anne 2150 miles for the year. And me? In short, I don’t know. At the beginning of the year, I made the zen-like decision not to record my miles for the year. This is the first time for that in seventeen years. Anne thinks that she has more miles than I and she may be right, I just don’t know. If she is right, then this would be the first time for that in seventeen years too. As a new years resolution, I promise to record my miles next year. This ought to keep those of my bike buddies happy. I’m speaking of the sub-genre know as the mileage weenies. Happy New Year all!