Although the calendar reminds us each year that autumn has arrived, it is the clean, crisp smell in the air, the position of the sun in the sky, and the acorns under foot that all signal the arrival of fall for me.

While I stood at the start line on a brisk Sunday afternoon, waiting in anticipation for the sound of the whistle to signal my son’s race to begin, I began to contemplate the idea of color. I saw before me over a hundred men dressed in skintight bib shorts and jerseys in an array of bright, vivid color combinations. Colors I am quite sure these men would not choose to wear in a public venue.