Short Story about a Knee Warmer

Words by Todd Simeone

The craziest thing happened to me. I was riding to work today when a dirtied, smashed-flat article of clothing lying in the middle of an intersection caught my eye. About a half block passed when it occurred to me that the small piece of clothing looked very much like cold weather cycling gear. I immediately braked and turned around to have a look. As I got closer a black shape revealed a small tag with a Swiss flag on it not unlike the Assos brand warmers I prefer. I stopped in the intersection, picked it up, turned it over, and was surprised to see that it was indeed an Assos knee warmer. I put it in my bag with some excitement, because, you know, Assos is a good brand, and I also happened to have a pair of the very same knee warmers at home (not missing any as far as I knew). As I rode away I laughed and began to ask questions: Was this my knee warmer? How did it get there? What are the odds that some other cyclist lost an Assos knee warmer in the middle of an intersection in a small Chicago neighborhood on my way to work? I took this enigma with me and showed it to my co-workers. I explained how I had found it, that it might be mine, and that I would have to wait out the work day to see if I was missing a warmer at home. They seemed equally perplexed. After a hard days work and drifting thoughts about every paired article of clothing I have ever lost, I got home, dug through my gear, and guess what?…one Assos knee warmer—it was mine! By my calculation it was in that intersection cold, dirty and run over by cars for one to two days. No idea how it got there, just glad to have it back.