The plan: my wife V and mutual friend and neighbor M would take a pleasant late-afternoon end-of-the-summer ride from the intersection of Rtes. 15 and 16 up to Caspian Lake and take the last swim of the year--maybe 6 miles each way.

Mishap 1: With V some distance ahead, M and I are pootling along at a pace appropriate to people born in 1954--maybe 11-12 mph. I'm following too close. Suddenly M hits a patch of deep sand that has spilled over onto the side of the road from the recent flooding and fishtails out in front of me. I can't stop, strike her a glancing blow on her left side and go down, moderately hard, removing a couple of square inches of skin from my right knee. I've also busted a front spoke and bent my derailleur mounting claw pretty badly.
It doesn't seem too bad, and I'm feeling pretty pleased that I sprang for the Park derailleur hanger alignment tool last year. I've also got the right spokes for the front wheel. I'm thinking it won't be too hard to fix. After looking things over a little, I conclude that I can keep going despite the busted spoke as long as I take it easy and don't shift into anything lower than the middle cog on my five-speed freewheel. We ride on, catch up to V, who has waited for us, and ride on to the lake.

Mishap 2. At the lake, M proposes that we ride another couple of miles to Highland Lodge (local inn/cross-country ski touring center of local note) and then turn around and head back for a swim. V says she'll wait at the beach, but I say what the heck and ride on toward Highland Lodge with M.
We're climbing the hill just before the lodge, and I carefully shift into what I think is my middle gear. In reality, I've lost track of what gear I'm in, and shift onto the fourth cog, sending the RD into the spokes and mangling it. Because I did it pretty gently, though, I didn't wreck the wheel, too.

Epilogue: I had my chain tool with me, and considered converting the bike into a temporary singlespeed for the ride home, but decided not to bother. It was downhill almost all the way, so I removed the chain and coasted, occasionally pushing with one foot, scooter-fashion. Had to walk up a couple of short hills.
When I fix the bike, I'm putting on a dork disk. I think I'm starting a policy of putting them back on ALL my bikes. Why not? I've demonstrated that I am, in fact, a dork. Why not let the world know?
And does anyone have a first generation long-cage Cyclone for sale or trade? I have NOS Vx-S that I'd trade. Or does anyone have a similarly trashed Cyclone II? I have one that's in good shape but has a broken mainspring.