Spinning My Wheels

I've been riding my bike to work in the afternoons as much as I can. If I have Colter in the morning, I'll go home for lunch and ride it back to work. Then, I'll pick up Colter on the bike if it's my turn. At first it was too damn cold to ride in the mornings, now it's getting to be too damn hot to ride during lunch.
From my home to the radio stations, it's a 380' climb for four miles (five miles, total to the stations). From the stations to Colter's daycare, it's almost 500'--all downhill.
Last week Colter and I tried to beat a thunderstorm, and nearly did. It was raining in the distance when I left the studios, and I thought we had a chance to beat it. I picked up Colter just as the thunder was approaching. We got within about 2 1/2 miles of home when the deluge started. Colter had his raincoat on so, he was protected--from the waist up, anyways--but I had nothing but a ballcap on (well, that's not true, I wasn't exactly nude under the ballcap). It rained so hard, my hiking boots were turned into buckets. Waterproof is only good if you're walking through puddles or very shallow streams. When the rain is being driven into the tops of your boots, it doesn't quite work that way.
Two things happened yesterday that made my bikeride a bit of a pain in the ass. I ride with my iPod Shuffle to help me forget the burning in my thighs from the uphill ride, and to keep from hearing the bitching in my head. I have no idea how long it's been since I left the iPod on the charging cradle, but yesterday, five minutes after I left, it died, leaving me trying to keep myself occupied for the remaining 35 minutes. Then, even though I didn't have to pick up Colter last night, I thought I would take the long way home. It's a great ride, all downhill, except when you realize you've left your house keys on your desk, back at work. Uphill. First thing I did was get on my phone and call Jennifer to see if she was headed straight home or if she and Colter were going somewhere after she picked him up. She would be home shortly after I got there, so she was going to give me a ride back to work to pick up my keys.
While I was on the phone, riding my bike down one of the busiest streets in Bozeman, I quickly realized I was one of the people I make fun of. I was on a bike, pedalling like mad, talking on a cellphone. As people passed me, I could hear in my mind the things that I would be saying if I saw me: "Biking and talking?? Put the phone down, jerk!" "Wow, you sure are an important man, having to take a phone call no matter what the circumstances!" And of course, something I said before I was forced to have a cellphone for work, "If I get a cellphone, I'd never do something that stupid. I'd either let it ring, or I'd pull over to the side of the road."