A Sad 'Bike To Work Day'

This is a tough Ride Your Bike To Work Day for me... I've been telling people for a few weeks about it and how they should all ride their bikes into work on the 18th of May and on and on. Well, needless to say, I was excited about the ride in on the 18th as well! Although I was thinking about the congestion, the fact that so many people were going to be riding was a good thought!

Well, my luck with transportation has really soured lately. From cars that won't go to brakes that won't stop, things have not been going exactly as I've been planning. Well, yesterday's ride home fell right into the pattern, although I know that it was really my own carelessness that caused it all. I had gone from Redmond to Lake Forest Park via the Snohomish River/Burke Gilman trail and then had gotten off the trail to cut over towards Edmonds. I was cruising down a hill at a pace of about 25 mph on the left side of the road as it had a large shoulder to ride on, unlike the right side. When I finally decided that it was time to cut over to my side of the road, I looked in my helmet mirror to check the road and then for some reason, I turned my head all the way around (while still cruising on down the hill at around 25-30 mph) to check the traffic. When I turned my head back, I was literally 1/2 a second away from riding up this rock wall/hill on the left side and as I turned back to face forward, my trike started riding up on it. It was already way too late to turn out of it. I flew up on what became like a hard-banking ramp on the side and my trike started flipping clockwise while still continuing on down the hill. Man, if I could have landed that, that would have looked like the most amazing stunt ever! I couldn't. I couldn't even come close. It came up so fast after turning around that I just got a glimpse into the future, but before I could really process it very well, the future was here. Apparently, I landed pretty awkwardly on the right front wheel on the way over and then at some point, also onto the front gearing between the pedals. I got up, flipped over, started laughing and walking around. I made a call to get a ride and felt very defeated as the trike was not rideable.

So, fast-forward to this morning. I get up and shower and all at 4 am, gear up and carry my mountain bike downstairs. I wasn't planning on riding it, but what can you do? So, I'm downstairs about to mount up when I notice the back tire is flat. I don't have a spare. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! I already had to limp downstairs, both legs feel like I was flogged all evening, and my hip would be broken if I was any older... Now, I start pumping up quickly until I notice that the stem core of the tube has been rubbing enough on the rim of the wheel that there's a hole in it. I carry the bike upstairs very defeated. I consider swapping out rear wheel from my trike with my mountain bike. I look at the clock and realize it's just not happening. This is not the 'Bike To Work Day' I had envisioned. Well, not exactly...