Commuting - Murphy's Law & Commuting..<argh>

What a day....I was reminded of Murphy's Law today. "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong"

Anybody have one of those monday mornings?

My story:

Woke up late, quickly get ready
load panniers (both)
find bike on the ground in garage
put it right side up & load panniers
Roll it out, walk back to garage and close it
Walk out..about to hop on...and I realize a rear flat, (hence why it probably fell over) **NEW TIRES & TUBES WERE PUT ON, on SATURDAY ** WTF???
Put bike in garage, go inside with both panniers
Remove regular clothes put on cycling clothes, lycra shorts, pants (need padded short for my mnt.bike)
can't wear running shoes b/c i have clipless pedals.
Remove half my load from pannier, re-pack my stuff in different bags, out I go!!!
Attach seatpost rack(basket) to bike, put in bag, and wear backpack

** by this time im sweating buckets, late and frustrated **

Hop on, seat starts swinging from side to side. Get off, and try to tighten my seatpost clip. It was stripped. Back to the garage, use a wrench to force it on.
Get back on bike-- tire low on air
Bike to gas station and put air in tire, and arrive to work with a few minutes to change.


ARGH:::::::: Although it could have been worse, it was enough to start me on the wrong foot.

Anybody have these Murphy Law days?

The best way to minimize Murphy is through preparation and preventative maintenance.

You need a pump as basic equipment. But yes, I have had days when a series of problems bummed me out.

YES. Just Saturday, in fact. I had to stay late. When I finally got off work, I walked out to the bay to find a rear flat. I figured that I'd just fix it and go home...but after 10 minutes of searching around in my panniers, I couldn't find my patch kit. @#$%!

2 bikes and no pump?

More than a few days when I've gotten all changed, rolled my bike into the apt. from the garage, loaded up my bags... and found out I forgot to charge my headlight battery. :mad:

Murphys law is like miracles. They don't exist but we give them credit for lots of things.

You got through tat fine. Stuff happens every day. Be prepared and accept it.

2 bikes and no pump?

That was my thought too.

As for Murphy's Law, I say use Chipcom's Law instead ("The best way to minimize Murphy is through preparation and preventative maintenance.") Seriously, on days where stuff like that has happened to me, it's been my fault b/c of a lack of preparation / maintenance. Anyhow, you seem to have improvised well enough!

I had a front flat last Monday on my roadie and just took the mtb instead. I could have fixed it but I would have been late.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDED! Two days before he had just installed two new tires and tubes! Do you think they already needed replacing? HA!

I keep on hearing you fellows mentioning pumps. Maybe the problem was that he didn’t change the air?

David

That was my thought too.

As for Murphy's Law, I say use Chipcom's Law instead ("The best way to minimize Murphy is through preparation and preventative maintenance.") Seriously, on days where stuff like that has happened to me, it's been my fault b/c of a lack of preparation / maintenance. Anyhow, you seem to have improvised well enough!

Yeah, I have a floor pump both at home and a different one at the office. My bike has a frame pump, and if that doesn't work, I have a CO2 thing in the pannier that I could use in emergencies :D

I keep a couple of spare tubes and a patch kit in the desk drawer at the office too. In addition to keeping two spare tubes in the pannier.

Call me over-prepared, but you probably won't see me walking the bike because of something as simple as a flat tire.

2 bikes and no pump?

I have an air compressor, but I was already out of the garage and it was locked when I realized the bike was low on air. Gas station wasn't that far out of my way. I just wanted to get on with the darn ride.

First day I decided to commute, and a couple days after I bought the bike, I was about 3 miles from work and about 5 from home. The bike seemed like it was dragging a bit so I decide to check the air in the tires. Back tire first, as I put the gage on the valve snaps off. I didn't have an extra tube. Ended up walking it the 3 miles in and getting a lift back home. Turns out when they assembled the bike, they put the retaining nut for the presta on the INSIDE of the rim. Brilliant. My fault for not realizing it, though.

First day I decided to commute, and a couple days after I bought the bike, I was about 3 miles from work and about 5 from home. The bike seemed like it was dragging a bit so I decide to check the air in the tires. Back tire first, as I put the gage on the valve snaps off. I didn't have an extra tube. Ended up walking it the 3 miles in and getting a lift back home. Turns out when they assembled the bike, they put the retaining nut for the presta on the INSIDE of the rim. Brilliant. My fault for not realizing it, though.

Lazy assembler FTL. Yikes! That reminds me of how when my better half's hybrid got its first flat I found that the "rim tape" on that wheel was a twisted and poorly sized piece of old tube. WTF?!? I remember getting pretty PO'd at the shop that sold the bike (I went to yell at them) and their response was "that's how it came from the manufacturer". :rolleyes: