Today the sun peeked out so I took my first bike ride of the season.  My road bike is a Specialized Allez which hangs in the garage from a hook.

But to ride you first get dressed when you are an old guy. That means padded underwear which I skipped, cycling pants and jacket, a helmet and a mini rear view mirror that attaches to glasses. This all went well. Then you pump up the tires, do a quick visual inspection of tires, brakes, seat and chain. All was good so I was ready.

You would think jumping on and riding toward the sunset would be easy. It was awkward. Shifting didn't feel natural. Balance came back gradually. And the traffic seemed heavy. However, after about a mile I was twenty years younger and could sense I was flying.

Unfortunately to the casual observer I was just one more over weight guy trying to stay upright in a world designed for cars.

I wasn’t intending to write about turning 73 so I won’t. But I did want to share walking through Tacoma on the first full day after. The sun came out to transform downtown Tacoma.  Beth and I had decided to walk through the University of Washington Campus at Tacoma. We found the architecture and the tie in with the former historic buildings uplifting.  The campus is in a part of town where as a kid I attended dances at the Swiss Hall, went shopping for shoes with my mother, hauled malt from the breweries to the cows back on the farm, and eventually purchased construction hardware and materials for building. It is difficult to imagine how city streets could be transformed into quiet conversation nooks that one expects at university.
 
The photo below is of Chihuly glass and Beth on the bridge across the freeway. It was a beautiful day, even for those of us older than dirt.