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survived a weird cycling error

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Toronto, 2012.07.26

I cycled to work today in the rain because I have to be home at 16:30 and cannot rely on transit to make that happen.

On the way, something really odd happened. I'd put the rain cover onto my pannier. It's a very lightweight vinyl waterproof draw-string-bag, essentially. Somehow, the drawstring got caught up around the axle, becoming wound several time and being stretched to the breaking point. All of this happened without my even noticing.

While I attribute my lack of attention to the heavy rain and the rain poncho covering my ears, I do not know to what I can attribute my good luck. For a nylon string to have simply torn apart the whole thing must have happened when I was going at some speed, presumably in a stretch of road where the vehicular traffic was also free to move quickly.

Three good things that happened today:

1. I survived a dangerous situation of my own making (next time, the drawstrings get folded into the bag)

2. I'll spend time with my father, son, and brother tonight, it seems

3. Lots of indoor parking at the office because of the rain.

rand()m quote

Selfish leaders increase risk by placing themselves first. It's a fundamental mistake to assume that what is good for us personally is mutually exclusive to what is good for everyone. That kind of zero-sum game is for cowards, and in the end, we all pay the price for this type of latent, toxic leadership.

—Col. Eric G. Kail