*.deity is after me

SOME deity is definitely after me -- or at least it feels like it.

After working hard all morning and early afternoon, I decided to take a ride out to Walden for a swim, an incredibly attractive prospect given the 91 degree weather.

I've cycled out there at least once a month since March -- ok, not August -- and thought it would be the perfect way to clear my head and then tackle a long-standing coding project.

I wish I'd found some other way to decompress.

I went downstairs to get my bike and found the front tire flat.

I pumped it up and then drove over to the bike path, thinking I would avoid having to cycle through rush hour traffic and give my already-sore legs a break when I returned.

I geared up and pedaled all of 8 strokes before the back tube blew, sending me skidding sideways.

I broke my fall with a gloved hand (fine), knee (now sans a large swatch of flesh and skin) and my pedal.

Determined to persevere and get out to my swim, I drove back to the bike shop and then went over to CVS and bought a big bleedstop bandaid.

Patched up, I extricated the tube, bought and installed a new one and drove back to bike path, sure that I'd overcome my challenge and was still going to get a pedal and dunk.

And then I saw that my pedal had broken in half due to the force of the skid, no doubt preserving my joints but making the bike more or less unridable.

I tried to stop at my favorite BBQ place on the way home to console myself over while I iced the knee....and of course my debit card wouldn't read on their machine.

A long, hot shower later, I'm shaking my head and wondering where the bad karma came from while being thankful that I didn't wipe out in traffic or on the trail.

Frickin' hump day. My knee hurts.