ARTICULATED

In 2005-06, I wrote a personal blog that was quite popular among friends. The primary content was reflections on a listless mid-30s single life in the city.  I saved those posts, and I occasionally go back and read them for kicks.There are a few gems, posts that were particularly popular at the time and — honestly — are among my favorite pieces of writing that I’ve ever done. So from time to time, I’m going to share them here.  This is the first. Enjoy.

Originally published May 19, 2006
Last year on one of my early morning training rides on my road bike, the kind that are filling my every spare moment these days, I was traveling west on P Street NW, from Washington’s Dupont Circle toward my house. It was still dark, there were no cars on the road, and I was riding entirely too fast. As I crossed 17th Street with a green light, a pedestrian materalized from nowhere, into the street and directly into my path. He saw me at the same time I saw him, shrieked and flailed backwards, arms in the air, as I swerved dramatically. I missed him by an inch, and to this day it’s the closest I’ve ever come to having a collision with someone on foot.

I was riding 20+ mph, with carbon-bladed wheels. Had I hit the pedestrian, it would’ve hurt him very badly, and it generally would have been an ugly scene — particularly considering the pedestrian was Congressman Barney Frank.