This weekend started out well.  I woke up and got ready on time to make it to the group ride I wanted to do.  About 26 miles into a 52 ride the first of three incidents happened.  I was moving to the right to get on a riders wheel.  It was a 100% normal situation, but another guy was coming up to that wheel from behind.  He had a choice – hit me – or move right.  He moved right, dropped off a small ridge of asphalt onto concrete… as he tried to figure that out and come back to the left… oops.  He got stuck and crashed.  I think 3 riders crashed.  I felt like it was my fault … it wasn’t … but I felt dumb/bad. That’s Event #1.  Low budget “entertainment”….

So – feeling “fresh” after my longest ride in months, I decided to go play with Vader – and her new tires. Nothing a quick 200 miles wont help?  Awesome … until riding along at 45 mph in the pouring down rain I feel a thump on my quad and my phone is gone.  It was probably okay until multiple cars ran over it.  It still works… and after my $107 payment to AppleCare, I should have a new phone today.  Event #2 … we had to “budget a little more for this incident.

Now it’s triple jeopardy, where dollars can really change!  Sunday I took Vader out to play again.  It was actually a fabulous ride until about 35 miles to go when I realized I had … 35 psi in my rear tire.  My rear tire I bought on Friday.   I will keep this drama short – I ended up with a 5mm allen key imbedded in my tire.  I did try to patch/plug it – but the bend of the wrench did enough damage, I didn’t feel that was safe (and it didn’t hold air).  $250+ later – my bike will be back together tomorrow. 

So … yeah, kinda three bad rides in a row, but when you piece it all together… I got in a good bicycle ride, the motorcycling was fabulous, my gear kept me dry, my weekend was a little expensive, but good!  At least I have the means to recover from this and ride again (as soon as maybe … this weekend?)