end-of-classes celebration

nearing the end of the semester. here's what i have to show for it:

grad school, in fact kills trees. good thing i recycle. as you can see, my bed also lacks a frame.

anyway i've been MIA due to escalated busyness. i'll get to reflecting on previous races et al. eventually, but i have to get all this schooling done first. none of my classes really ended with any sense of closure, so it doesn't feel like the semester's done at all. other than that finals thing.

anyway after finishing up my very last class today (ehh, technically yesterday now), i rode out directly from campus for a little joyride at dusk.

near the lincoln memorial and by the arlington memorial bridge are these steps that face the potomac/arlington. i stopped there a bit to enjoy the view.

it's been pretty stressful lately, but nights like these are good reminders that the world's too grand and beautiful to be feeling anxious all the time.

after soaking all this in, i went to hains point to do some nighttime sprints. it's my first attempt to do more serious riding in the dark, albeit on the commuter. i've almost forgotten how buggy dc gets at night... sign that summer's almost here.

riding tonight did inspire some flashbacks of the awful pain i experienced while running/limping through the cherry blossom 10 miler since the course looped around hains point. but then i remembered happier, uninjured times when i got to explore that part of the peninsula for the first time ever when marc visited.