I've had better commutes.

Cold this morning - well, for California it was, projected in the high 40s with a chance of showers. But I got the clothing pretty close: Softshell jactket over a jersey and tights over my bibs. Mid-weight insulated gloves kept the fingers comfy, and a headband kept the ears from falling off.

Everything was OK, until a couple of miles from the office, when I must have hit something with my rear tire, 'cuz it went flat in a hurry. Fortunately I think I've got the lighting figured out with both a bar-mounted light and a helmet-mounted light, so I figured changing the tire in the dark wouldn't be a problem.

Opened up my seat bag and - no nitrile gloves. Oh well, I guess my hands are just going to get dirty. I figured I should be able to find the offender who punctured my tire fairly easily, but I couldn't find anything even though I looked carefully and felt the insides all the way around (including the sidewalls) at least twice. So, I put the new tube in (with a bit of trepidation since I hadn't found what caused the flat), seated it with my mini pump to make sure I hadn't pinched the tube, then let some of the air out so I could use my CO2. The inflator I have stores an unopened CO2 clinder upside down in its body, so I went to unscrew the body from the head of the inflator and heard "Psssst". What the . . . ? Unscrew it all the way, and . . . Dang it, I must have forgotten to put a new cylinder in the inflator after the last on-road flat. Now, I keep a couple of extra cylinders in my seat pack, but I didn't want to use one, just to get me the mile or two until I got to the office (where I have a floor pump stashed in my bike locker), so I just filled it up (well, as much as about 340 strokes will get you) with the mini pump. I quickly rolled into work, conscious that I have just used up my time buffer, and if I get another mechanical, I'll be late - not the end of the world, but still . . .

Fortunately no problems in the last mile or two (well, I did have a face-palm moment when I realized I had put the chain between the cog and the hub (fixed gear), so I had to stop and re-adjust the chain so it actually engaged the teeth of the cog). Got to the office, put the bike in the locker, and head to the locker room to shower, change, etc. Finish my shower, and notice somehow my towel had fallen off the hook, and half of it is sitting in water (and the other half is soaking up more water). Wring out my towel, dry off as best I can, get dressed and head up to my office. Plug all my lights in to the USB cables, put my lunch in the refrigerator (where a co-worker asks if I had dropped a headband outside the mens room downstairs - yup it's mine got to go down and get it), and finally head over to the break room to get my morning coffee - right on time.

I guess it wasn't such a bad commute after all.