This one's a little embarrassing. I've developed the worst mental block.

I keep making a wrong turn.

What you see pictured at left is Bradford Street.

It is not supposed to be part of my morning commute.

But three times last week I ended up there.

The third time I decided to take the picture...and tell you about my new problem.

So here's the deal: There's a detour in my neighborhood at one of the Sudbury River crossings. That means that a lot of traffic is diverted in the morning to where I begin my morning commute. So, brilliant me, knowing the side streets as well as I do, decided to try to get around the backups.

Except, as it turns out, I don't know the side streets as well as I thought.

What makes this worse is that there have been times when I have successfully navigated these side streets. But then I had the one wrong turn, and I haven't been able to recover. It's like I have the driving yips. I'm like the Chuck Knoblauch of driving through Framingham.

One time I ended up going left when I should have gone right, and after a big circle the road spit me out up the block from the road where I entered the 'short cut'. (My daughter gave a decisive "Hey!", recognizing instantly the road on which we had been about four minutes earlier.)

Two other times I ended up going the wrong way, and ended up following another car (hoping they were on their way to work and not returning from dropping off their children at the school bus - if the latter were the case I would have ended up following them to their driveway.) to a main road - not the way I was intending to go, but effective nonetheless.

I am not terrible with directions. I usually have a general sense of where I am and where I am going. But this situation is really getting to me. I've taken my bike through this neighborhood - it's three-quarters of a mile from my house. I should know my way through it.

I'm going to keep trying. Eventually I'll figure it out and get it right.

And then hopefully my muscle memory takes me in the right direction from that point forward.