This was a utility ride, not a commute, but I reckon it belongs here.

Friday night, I went out to get a new coffee brewer. The Keurig Dual brewers are on sale at Kohl's (department store) now for $100, instead of $180-190, as they usually are. I took the Vektron, figuring I'd strap it to the rear rack with a bungee net. Kohl's is a 3 mile ride. I set out and it started raining halfway there. Damn.

I bought the machine and was strapping it onto the rack. It was too big in the box, but I was trying to stretch it that last inch. It slipped in my wet hand and the bungee hook blasted me right in the lip. Blood everywhere. It stopped quickly, saliva has a clotting effect, and I was controlling it with my tongue.

I took the machine out of the box and tried again. This time, a hook broke and the opposite one hit me in the eye. Luckily I blinked in time. No blood, and surprisingly I don't have a black eye either, 3 days later. Cat-like reflexes, apparently. I almost gave up and called for a rescue ride, but decided to give it one more try. Success!

I rode a couple blocks and the snap-off base fell off on the road. I heard it and went back for it, and put it in the big back pocket of my cycling jacket. I rode home the rest of the way in the rain, half blind without issue. When I got home and my wife asked "How was your ride?" I replied: "Not my most successful mission."

I checked myself out in the mirror. My lip was pretty messed up. There was a deep, 1/2" long cut on the outside, and a puncture on the inside, from the hook smashing it into the tip of my canine tooth. Wife asked me to go to Urgent Care, which I resisted, but finally did when I saw that the cut opened up every time I moved the lip. It would've taken forever to heal. I got one stitch and a penicillin script. It's a lot better now. Kind of fat and lumpy.

Lesson learned: When strapping things down with bungees, don't position yourself in the line of fire if something should slip. There's a lot of stored energy in those things we don't usually think of.

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No commute today or tomorrow. I'll leave for Green Bay in a bit here to embark on my 83 mile trail ride tomorrow. We got about 8" of snow last night, but it's lake effect, so will not have affected Wausau, 225 miles NNW from here. I should be to the hotel in Wausau tonight in time to see the Packers get smoked by the Eagles. This will be my Gran Fondo for November. The trail is 83 miles, but there's a detour and riding to/from the trail head on each end, so I may end up with a century. If so, it'll be my first on a folder.