DH left work early today, so he was able to come and meet me at work and ride home with me. That was good for a couple of reasons. First, he wants to get a few rides in (at least 1!) before we do Saturday's time trial. Second, I couldn't get to the grocery store at lunch because I had to attend a meeting, so I didn't get to do the shopping I wanted to do. With DH around, we could stop at the store we pass on the way home, he could watch my bike (I don't carry a lock with me), and I could get the groceries after work.
And since I was all decked out in bike clothes, I wanted to take the tri bike out when I got home so I could see how the chain shifts on the wheels I just put on with a new cassette. So, we got to the house, DH brings the groceries upstairs, I swap my commuter shoes for my road shoes, grab the tri bike, and head back outside for a cruise around the neighborhood to work the chain through the gears. Halfway out, I see a familiar kit (my agency team kit - which I also happen to be wearing) standing on the side of the road, with a familiar bike - a recumbent - parked off the road on on the grass. It's my friend and co-worker, Mark. Thinking he was on the phone to his wife, reporting some mechanical problem, I pull over and say hello. He was grazing his way through a neighbor's mulberry tree.
"Getting my daily dose of antioxidants!" he said. The tree was thick with fruit in various stages of ripeness.
"This time of year," he explained, "I look like I just came from a voting station in Iraq." He turned his hands over to show his fingertips and nails stained deep purple.
So we chatted for a while - him handing me a handful of mulberries every so often, and then we departed...both in our matching team kits - him on a recumbent, me on a tri bike, both with fingers stained purple. We must have made quite a pair!