After downclimbing the Third, I descended to the South Sneak (5.2), a hidden gem and my favorite climb on the Second Flatiron. One pitch of featured slab, one thin, cruxy ramp, one blocky step, and one fun rounded ridge later, I stood at the top of the route, grinning like an idiot.  

I wanted to finish my morning trifecta with the First Flatiron, but I had no time for its standard, longer routes. Work would not wait forever. Luckily, the First offers a short, little-known treasure called Atalanta (5.3). A water-groove gully brought me to a small, graceful ramp. I grunted over two featured bulges, topped out to a crystalline view of Longs Peak, downclimbed the Southwest Face (5.0), and found the trail. The detour had cost me only 20 minutes. 

Having covered some 20 pitches of rock before 8:00 a.m., I should have been sated. But was there time for one more climb?  The Flatirons summoned me; the idiot grin resurfaced. From the glass and steel canyons of faraway Denver came the call of the abusive boss.