A lesson that we should all take away from witnessing a child eat an ice cream cone(or most anything else for that matter) is that no matter how careful we are, it’s going to get everywhere on everything.

Unfortunately, bicycle grease behaves much the same way prior to 6 am.  I don’t know what it is or how it happens but it is everywhere, instantly, as soon as I do anything to my bike.  Today I went so far as to get up early and scrub down the parts of my bike I must handle everyday.

I was positive that I had gotten out in front of the problem but like a freshly washed car will undoubtedly be the target of the local bird population, my fresh summer business attire proved no match for the soot and grease of my bike.  I suppose wearing a light pink shirt and light khaki pants may be ill-advised but it’s supposed to be 80+ degrees and humid today.  Besides, it’s all I had clean(ironic) this morning.

So the questions remains, what do I do?  How dirty is too dirty?  I think my pre-commute wipe down saved me from total embarrassment but where do I draw the line?  Am I expected to revamp my whole wardrobe to dark tones of browns, blacks and greens to attempt to hide the soot and grease?

I’ve made it clear that I like a good splash of color and will rock an argyle sweater in a variety of tones.  So I will continue to push my luck until the day when I’m forced to make a choice.  As long as I still get blown kisses and a thumbs up from the topless homeless guy who lives under the bridge at Union Station every morning, nothing is gonna’ change……absolutely nothing!