Foiled by the Inexorable Laws of Chemistry

I was supposed to blog about cycling this morning.

You see, my bike commuting has been pretty spotty for January and February. Actually, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I biked to work since January 10. Oh, I have dozens of excuses: I got a bad cold, then it dipped down into the single digits, then I got another cold, then I was tired and busy and it’s hard to start biking in cold weather.

Anyway, I’ve been both dragging my feet and antsy to get back into cycling. I do miss it, even though I’ve been rediscovering the convenience of traveling by car. So I decided I simply had to start biking again this morning. With an afternoon temp reaching the mid-70’s, it would be simply criminal for me not to bike to work today, right?

Ahem.

So I get ready in my bike gear, hop on my bike, and slowly grind up the gently sloping driveway.

Grind?

Yeah, I hadn’t cleaned my chain off very well last time I used it (hey, YOU try doing bike maintenance in the dark when it’s 5 degrees F outside). Okay, actually I didn’t clean it at all. And now, between salt and disuse, it’s rusty. And my gears aren’t looking that great either.

I know, I don’t deserve nice things.

Or, I really need a garage.

So I drove today, and I’m kicking myself for having been lazy about bike maintenance. My only consolation is that both the chain and the gears were going to need to be replaced soon anyway (in less than 6 months). That, and the promise of shiny new replacement parts to speed me on my way.

I still feel a strong need to do some kind of physical activity today, so I’m going running after work.

That is, if the rubber on my running shoes hasn’t disintegrated after months of disuse. ;o)