SRSLY

Despite Wednesday's dreary blog post, I went to bed feeling pretty good about Thursday.  I had a blog post loaded in the chamber, ready to go for Friday.  No blog post for Thursday... Day One of Pisgah Monster Cross Crunch Training. 

I was in bed by 10:00PM, alarm set for 6:00AM.  A pretty stormy evening meant that the humidity should be knocked down significantly.  The plan was to ride the Misfit cross tire fixed gear Boredom Killer for two hours... wherever.  No way I'm riding the Fastest Bike in the World for two hours until I replace the crunchy drive train.  Those parts are on order... still.

I woke up at 5:43AM... stayed in bed till the alarm went off.  One hour for coffee, Pop-Tarts and constitutional rights, prep the Boredom Killer to head out the door.  7:05AM, five minutes late, but not bad for me.  Three turns from my driveway, my rear tire is flat. 

*sigh*

Turn around.  Ride  towards home.  With the compressor and spare tube handy, I'd only lose a few minutes.  Then the front went flat to match the back.

TEAM USA bottle from the bottle swap at the Shenandoah Mountain 100 Aid 6... reason enough to not quit at Aid 5.

It's a sign.  Toss the bike aside, fire up the computer, change the one word in Friday's post that will make it Thursday's, and consider taking up meth production as a hobby.  8:00AM, head back out the door on the Fastest (and Most Crunchy) Bike in the World.  Get around the corner and after riding through it, I see the mine field.

Staples.  Everywhere.  All over the tiny stretch of sidewalk that I use to connect the first two neighborhoods on my extended commute.  More than I have time to dispatch with just my bare hands.

Once I got to work, I remember something I posted on FaceBook last week:

Stupid karma.  It was also at this point that I remember that flat moment... the way it went down.  I rode it until I found a happy spot to swap the tube and cut my already short "training ride" down even shorter.  Later that night, I found out that the staple had poked many, many, many holes in the tube as I rode it flat, making it unrepairable.  Which means I probably did the same thing to the other two tubes.* 

So I'm not heading out early today.  I'm gonna assume if I did, it would go to shit from some reason.  I have two stupid rides in mind for the weekend, both during the heat of the day while the family unit is busy with other things.  That should be good for something or not at all... dunno.  If I've learned anything from Chris Horner's victory at the 2013 Vuelta, it's that it's never too late for a miracle. 

I just need to find some "help."

*Late edit:  Half-confirmed my theory.  One tube patchable, one tube perforated multiple times.  The good news being that my rubber band collection just got a huge boost.