A string of threes

I'm not going to throw my arms up and ask aloud 'why me?' Things - good and bad - happen for a reason. Sometimes I wonder why now, why this month, why so close together, and why not something else.

I was involved in an accident while biking home from work on December 3rd. It was my fault and I wrote about it in my previous post. It made me think twice about zooming to catch that yellow light, but I still weave through traffic a bit to get in front of the cars waiting at the red light. And if it's all clear I'll cross and continue on my way. I am also fortunate to own 4 bikes - 2 road bikes, 1 triathlon specific bike, and the 'injured' single speed. So it was fairly easy to grab another bike off the rack and get to where I needed to go the next day.

The following week I had another 'blip' on the WTF radar when I had another incident with my bike. It was minor and everything was fine, but it got me to start thinking about #3 - when and where.

I didn't have to wait more than 4 days. I went along with my normal routine of work and then biking along I Street toward my PT appointment in the evening. I locked my bike up per usual - weaving the combination cable lock between the spokes, frame, around the bike rack - and took my lights as I headed inside for my hour long appointment.

An hour later my bike was gone. #3 on the WTF radar. I think I called this the 'are you effing kidding me' radar.

I should've known something was going happen. No, I DID know. Another accident? Sure, that's what I expected. I guess I'll take a stolen bike over a worse accident. Renters insurance will cover the bike, lights, and lock, and I'd rather spend a few days without a bike than days/weeks/months in the hospital.

So back to the rack for the second road bike. This is one is known as The Lemon as I've had numerous problems with it (mechanical) since I bought it back in 2002. It hasn't been ridden in years and I need to spend some time tweaking with the set up, but at least I'm able to continue biking to work without missing a day. I will, however, be taking the metro to my next PT appointment and not risk losing another bike.

The bike that was stolen was the first road bike I ever bought. I knew nothing about bikes, about sizing, about brands or components, but bought it because it was cheap and said it would fit someone 5'6" and 5'10". Worked for me. I put clip-on aerobars on it and got a shorter stem to turn it into a triathlon bike in 2002. After getting The Lemon it turned into my 'beater bike' since it wasn't as pretty as The Lemon (that's how much I knew about bikes) and I rode it all over the place. It hung silently as I got more involved in triathlons and kept its mouth shut when I moved on to marathons and later ultra marathons. Even with the SS joined the group he hung patiently on the rack knowing I'd come around. The Beater was right. And even if it was just for a brief reprieve, it was a good bike. There's obviously a lot of sentimental value attached to the bike, but it's replaceable.

On the flip side, I've had a bit of good luck happening. I had jury duty on Tuesday and was not selected, and I finally got the results from the biopsy I had over a month ago. I was told it was a 'moderate dysplastic mole' - it's not melanoma nor is it cancerous. It does, however, have a higher chance of turning into melanoma since the cells are still changing. I was told this is nothing to lose sleep over, and I won't, but I need to go back in a month or so for a second biopsy.

I would love to have my #3 on the good luck side of things be that my bike is recovered, but I don't envision that happening. Time to move on. I'm not going to stand around waiting for something good to happen, but instead I'll hop on The Lemon and enjoy the ride.