Day 79: It takes all kinds

Early in the morning -- especially on a Labor Day, I guess -- one seems to have the Minuteman Bikeway to oneself. Tooling through Lexington at 15 mph, with the sun and the breeze and the trees and the wide, clear path... just lovely.

Of course, it couldn't last, and by the time I was heading back to Cambridge, the trail was starting to fill up with the typical weekend crowd. I saw several absolutely enormous people on bikes, and I couldn't decide whether to shriek in horror or applaud these apparent attempts at fitness. I settled for doing neither.

Not for the first time, I also encountered a fellow who contentedly ambled along the trail, enthusiastically greeting each passer-by. This guy seems, shall we say, touched. He reminds me of Bicycle Bob, a character from my home town. Last time I visited my parents, my mom and I drove past Bob, standing on the corner by the library. It was the first time I'd ever seen him without a bicycle.

"Is he just 'Bob,' now?" I asked.

My mother looked at me. "What?"

Ah well.

22.1 miles, and now it's 9:30 AM -- time for Breakfast No. 2 (an old trick from the bike trip).