The first appearance of the sun since late February made for a stunning commute to work this morning. I rushed out of the house eager to begin my 15-mile ride from the west side of St. Paul follows the gorgeous curves of the Mississippi River, and I’ve had to stop along the trail for deer, turkey, bear, and once a 13-foot Burmese python. Just kidding. This morning I did see the blue flash of an indigo bunting or some other florescent blue thing—it was not a great blue heron which, just last weekend, my son mistook for a flying monkey when it swooped low over our house.

Because most of my ride skirts the bluffs of the Mississippi, when I enter the city, I feel as though I’ve completed an epic journey. I’ve overcome adversity. I have raced other riders. I’ve been sworn at my drivers, and I have eaten bugs (I need to learn to breathe through my nose when I ride.) I have conquered 15 miles of road and have scoffed at the sign at the gas station that reads $3.74 a gallon. I arrive in Minneapolis victorious and, quite honestly, I kind of expect a smallish tickertape parade and a lot more fanfare than I get.

But today was different. As I approached the Government Plaza everyone was cheering for me. Mayor Rybeck welcomed me from the stage. This was what I’d been waiting for! This is how riders should be greeted every morning. (Though, to be fussy, I’d like cream cheese with the bagels, and I was bummed that there was no coffee left.) I circulated among the brethren, pleased by our numbers and, as always, amazed by the fact that, really, no one looks that good in Spandex.

I made my way to the bike locker and shower room that US Bank Plaza generously provides for commuters which was when I discovered that in my enthusiasm to embrace Bike to Work Day, I’d inadvertently joined forces with the lesser-known celebrations: Leave Your Underwear at Home Day and Forget to Shave Day.

Participation may have been limited...to ...um... me, but at least I don't have to worry about those nasty boxer lines showing through my ultra-thin summer business casual wear. But it made me smile as I recalled all those people on the plaza—was I really the only one who may have skipped out of the house just a little too enthusiastically? Or were there ten’s or even hundreds of commuters that were sitting at their desks dressed just a little bit differently today?