Hi everyone.  Before I get into yesterday’s ride, I’d to mention/remind you all that Biking in Memphis is on twitter.  You can follow me on @bikinginmemphis.  And I’ve started using my twitter iPhone app more lately, so there will be tasty tweets for you to read.  My feed is already connected to my Facebook page.

Anyway, yesterday I had to go downtown for an important dinner with the Shelby County legislative delegation.  The twenty-plus members of the state House and Senate from Shelby County have been very supportive of the Center for Economic Education at the University of Memphis, and since I am going to be taking over as Director of said Center, it was incumbent that I meet the delegation.

I debated whether or not to bike downtown.  The dinner started at 4:00 PM, so traffic wasn’t an issue, but I needed to wear my suit and look sharp, and I was concerned about being rumpled, given that I wouldn’t be able to change clothes once I arrived.  Plus, I wanted to be sure I had plenty of time to get there, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to leave on time.  And, I haven’t biked in several weeks, and given that I blew out my knee last year under similar circumstances, I did not want to risk another injury.  But eventually I sucked it up, geared up, and headed out around 2:50 PM, in plenty of time to bike downtown.

I arrived at the Majestic Grille, the site of the dinner, around 3:20 PM after a very leisurely ride downtown.  The weather was sunny and cool, so I barely broke a sweat and was looking quite dapper when I arrived.  Here’s a picture of my freshly-shaved self just before I left.

Admit it – I clean up good.

The dinner was quite a lot of fun.  The President of U of M, Dr. Shirley Raines, was there, and I was introduced to her as the new Center Director.  There was probably around 15-20 of the delegation there, plus some other important people, so it was fun to be able to flex my schmoozing skills.  And, I got invited to speak at an urban issues summit this weekend by State Representative G. A. Hardaway.  I’ll bike to that for sure.

The dinner ended just before 7:00 PM, and after a few wardrobe changes, I headed home.  Unfortunately, I forgot to tell my biking app, MotionX GPS, that I was heading home, so I only captured some of my ride home.  Regardless, here the map of my ride.

The northern leg was my ride west to downtown.  You can see where I remembered to reactivate MotionX GPS, just where that little spur sticks up from Linden.  Here’s a clickable link for your enjoyment.

Tonight I’m biking to the FedEx Forum to help with a training session for some of the Grizzlies Team Mentors.  The mentors, in groups of three, meet weekly with local kids and teach them important life lessons.  My colleague, the current Center Director, and I are going to teach them a few financial literacy lessons.  Then it’s off to Boscos for my weekly beer and social time.  Come by if you like.

This weekend promises to be nice weather, so I hope to log some miles on my bike.  If I do, you can bet that you’ll read about it here.

Oh, and don’t forget: Cycle Memphis January is this weekend!  I hope to be able to ride, but it depends on some other stuff.