The joys, terrors and frustrations of bicycle commuting

So my friends, I've been commuting to work for two weeks now. Not every day mind you and that has to do with some of the more frustrating moments. I ride 12 miles to school at 5:30 AM and 12 miles home whenever I finish up there. Aside from the woes of it all, riding to school in the morning is joy. There are no cars on the road, I can move swiftly through empty intersections and arrive at school within one hour. The ride home is admittedly hairier, requiring maneuvers through shoulderless streets in a one mile stretch at rush hour. Cars typically heed me, mostly because I have a fluorescent yellow jacket, a bright orange messenger bag and two blinky LED lights tail and front. They do their best to accommodate me in narrow conditions.

The woes!

1. Getting a flat tire at 5:50 in the morning 5 miles from home with no cell phone, patch kit, pump or spare. That was a treat.

2. Purchasing new tires and tubes the next day only to have some kind of pinch flat during the school day. The new tires are snazzy puncture resistant ones that are an upgrade from my Bontrager Race x-Lites that just aren't built for the stresses of city streets.

3. Taking my new, shiny, unused tires home after changing said flat and completely slipping as I corner at 10 mph or so onto the next street.

4. The effects of a good bike crash! I missed the first two days of classes, spent one of them in the ER getting cat scanned, x-rayed, urine sampled and pregnancy tested. All manner of tests. Only for the doctor to go... "Yep, you've got a big bruise on your hip, a wrist sprain etc. Here's a script for some fancy drugs, off you go!" (I didn't even see the doc actually, he just wrote me some nice paperwork.) My boss made me stay home the next day and rest and I relaxed all weekend, my muscles recovering from the trauma gradually.

5. Today another rear tire flat that happened *during* the school day. I'm starting to wonder if trouble is afoot and if I shouldn't park my bike elsewhere. Literally I took my bike over to a coworker who also rides to repair my crooked handlebars with an allen wrench, put it back and then an hour later the rear tire is flat! What? Suspicion! I will have to stash my bike somewhere more secret I think, my god. I was near crazed with frustration, yelling like a mad woman.

Needless to say I'll be going to the bike shop to do some sleuthwork with them tonight. Figure out if some little bastard is popping my tire because "it's fun" or whether I'm just getting pinch flats or something... during the school day. (Which makes no sense whatsoever)

For now, I am determined to keep riding. It's keeping me in good shape and it's fun for the most part. There's a lot of joy in feeling the breeze on my face and the strain of my muscles before and after a work day.

Toodles for now.