As the wheel turns: Murat is s.o.o.l. lately

Saturday's temperature soared to an unseasonable 60+ degrees, and you can be sure that Murat took advantage of it. But my luck has gone to Tahiti or something because for the 4th time in as many rides, I had a mechanical mishap. First there was the off-road incident, where a stick jammed my rear derailleur and shattered it.. I replaced it at considerable expense. A week later I took Reis out for a ride in his trailer, towing him behind me for 1-1/2 hours. On that ride, just 100 meters from our driveway, my chain disintegrated, destroying the newly replaced derailleur.. Grrr. A week or so ago I went for a one hour road ride on the LOOK bike and had a flat tire on the bike path. Today's ride was no different. Another pffffffffft meant that the rear tire was punctured again. Being that the roads were all wet today, my hands turned black with grime by the time I repaired it and rode home.. These Vredestein Fortezza tires have flatted on me about ten times since I bought this bike. So today I ordered a pair of the Continental 4 Season tires which are tried and true. On the bright side, I find that I have not lost much form, in spite of skipping the indoor soccer this winter because of my sprained ankle of last June. My weight is coming down too- 176 today (One year ago today I was over 180) Picture is of a racer who hit the deck in the Elite Cyclocross National Championships last month in Roger Williams Park. His fork snapped from the impact. Ebru and I made sure he had some water to drink after his fall, as you can see by the bottle in his hand. (Blogger is not letting me post pictures! Grrrr.)