Murphy's Law

    Well, there is the old saying that whatever CAN go wrong, will.  It's one of the things they taught us very early on in our EMT training.  As you head out onto a call with the information, ALWAYS keep in the back of your mind the worse case scenario and how you might prepare for that.  This little adage (some might call it an epigram) is called "Murphy's Law".  Now this is not to be confused with the early 80's Canadian-based American musical duo Chéri and their one hit wonder of the same name:

Nor should it necessarily be confused with that hardcore punk rock band Murphy's Law which, coincidentally enough, was also formed in 1982, same year Chéri's song "Murphy's Law" came out:

     No, I'm talking about the phenomenon that crap happens when you least expect, or NEED, it to happen.  Such was the case this morning.  I was all psyched to ride to work this morning and leave early to maybe take a slightly longer route in.  But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, my front tire decided to be flat.  The same tire that was fine when I rode home on it last Thursday.  "Well, that's just GREAT," I thought, "I don't have the time to change the tube".  In my still sleepy stupor (it WAS 5:30 in the morning) I decided I would just put on my spare wheelset and that would settle it all.
     So I pull down the wheelset and pump up the tires, change the wheels out all in the space of five minutes and I'm ready to go, right?  But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, the cones have somehow managed to work themselves loose.  I mean the last time I used this wheelset was last winter and I don't remember that being the case so what gives?  Well, now I have to adjust the cones and I'm off, right?
     But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, because now I have taken care of the wobble but the bearings are TOO tight and I'm not getting the easy and free rotation I need from the front wheel:

Or for those of you more aurally than optically stimulated:

Though you Super Bowl fans may remember it as a clever reinterpretation of this commercial;     

     Needless to say, this cold water in the face reflection on Edvard Munch's Der Schrei der Natur put a damper on the entire mood of my ride.  But in my new Zenlike riding style I have learned that I can let that effect me completely or try to embrace the philosophy that even a "bad" ride is better than no ride at all.  So I do what anyone who likes riding should do, I sucked it up and headed out determined to make the best of it.
     And you know what?  It was a GREAT ride!  The tires on this spare wheelset are 25mm compared to my usual 38 mm so I seemed to just fly along!  The air was crisp, the sun was up, the traffic was light and the ride was so much fun.  Even climbing up Stillwell was fun!!!!  Go figure!
     So it just goes to show you, yes "Murphy's Law" happens.  Things go South in an instant and you get a flat when you least expect/need/want/appreciate it but look at the forest instead of the trees and have a great ride anyway - it beats sitting in traffic getting pissed off because people are cutting you off!
     One more Murphy's Law for Cyclists just to bookend this particular blog.  It reminds me of my days traversing the state of Kansas by bike:

     And today's roadside count;

FFR - Squirrel (I guess the car didn't have Bridgestone tires), bird
RRL - Car mat, glove


Stay well and I'll see you on the road!