I am going to preface this post by noting that I am incredibly lucky, and I’m going to list the reasons:

– My parents are absolutely wonderful, supportive and loving

– I don’t have to worry about money

– I have fantastic friends and a beautiful, intelligent, passionate, kind-hearted girlfriend

– I get to go to work every day and love every minute of it

– I am healthy

– There are plenty more reasons, but you get the idea

Okay, so time for the kvetching.  Last Sunday, I went on what was supposed to be a 50 mile bike ride and, 8 miles in, my rear tubular tire went flat; that was the end of that ride.  This morning, I planned to bike 72 miles to Connecticut for a Capital Good Fund staff retreat.  3 miles into the ride I realized that I had forgotten by clothes at home, so back I go.  Now I’m back on the road and, after a few miles,I hit a pothole.  As a result, a bolt comes loose on my rear fender, leaving the fender rubbing on the rear wheel to the point that it barely spins.  I spend 30 minutes trying to get the wheel off so that I can fix the fender but the skewer won’t come off.  That’s the end of that ride.

Words cannot describe how hard I’ve been working of late and how much I was looking forward to this ride.  Last night I bought a bike rack for my car and a special headlight to ensure that cars would see me at dusk.  I got up at 4 AM and was on the bike at 4:45.  But instead of being on my bike on a beautiful day feeling the power of my legs and the joy of riding a bicycle, I am furious and angry and frustrated.

Now I need to remember how I started this post: I am so lucky.  This is minor and it’s time for me to let it go.  I’ll fix the bike and ride another day.