You Win Some, You Lose Some, You Replace Some 

No Whiners Club, image via Brain Pickings

It’s been a hot and muggy, sweat soaked week in Hogtown (T.O., Tdot, “in the six”) and for all of my general good fortune, recently my luck ran out.

Monday: I noticed my left pedal on my Fuji bike seemed a little too spongy. Turns out it was busted. Broke. Done. I’d been meaning to replace them for ages but now I would have to. This kind of bicycle expense is typical maintenance but I wouldn’t be able to get to a bike shop until the weekend.

Tuesday: somehow, inexplicably, I lost both my beloved backpack rain cover (so bright and reflective it has been mistaken on Russian dashboard cameras as a falling meteorite) and my Castelli jacket (breathable, water resistant and light and packable enough to take anywhere). The jacket was stowed in the pocket of the backpack cover which must have simply fallen off the backpack as I rode. I’d stopped snapping the straps on the cover ages ago as it didn’t seem to need it and the snaps were so rusted it was questionable if snapped, they could ever be unsnapped. It’s strange that I never noticed it falling off, or that when it fell off, it didn’t take out any cyclist riding behind me? I rode back along the route going home but there was no sign of it.

Wednesday: as my Fuji was ailing, I rode my Bianchi to work which has a different and older U-lock. Turns out, the lock is so old that on this day it reached its expiry and after locking up in the morning, the key, as worn as a beach stone, refused to unlock it later that day, thus I had to walk home. It was only 3 kilometres yet when you are used to rolling two-wheel style, walking sucks.

Thursday: in order to free my Bianchi, I had to get building staff to cut it free. I guess I’ll be picking up a new u-lock when I get those pedals.

A video posted by Peter Rogers (@peterrogersesq) on Aug 20, 2015 at 12:50pm PDT

Four days in a row I incurred a new expense everyday. Broken pedals ($50), lost backpack cover ($30), lost jacket ($70), and a broken bike lock ($80). That’s about $230 in replacement costs in a week.

Then again, a recent windfall of online vouchers meant I could replace some of the lost items and I’ve already ordered a replacement backpack rain cover and jacket. Then, out of the blue, Air Canada returned my eReader (valued around $100) that I left on a flight in May. They had turned it on (batteries still working after 3 months!?) and found my e-mail address in the settings and contacted me.

I don’t think of myself as being too possessive of “things” but you have stuff for a reason and it’s surprising how not having those things can really put a wrench in the works of your routine. I guess you win some, you lose some and you can almost always replace some. Expect 4-5 business day delivery until return to better luck.