About the flat: Instead of patching it again (do people do that?) I put in a new tube after going over the tire and rim very carefully. I couldn't find the culprit, nothing seemed amiss. I've only fixed two flats before on my old bike so I can only say that the rim tape looked ok to me. The new tube held up to a quick one mile around the neighborhood at midnight last night. Didn't want to test things commuting today so if it's still holding air when I get home I'll try to put in some miles.

Bah! Only the 4th and already behind. Better get riding to catch up.