If you give a bike a fender...

Hello, friends!

First of all, it is GREAT to be back and riding again.  While I was traveling the world (ok, so it was Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and California) I very much missed riding my bike as well as blogging about it!  I'm sure you, my faithful 10 readers are glad to see me back too.  (Here's hoping 10 isn't too generous).  =0).

Greedy mouse probably wants a bike too!

Do y'all remember the children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"?  I can't say that it was one of my favorites (that would be reserved for "I'll Love You Forever") but it's a solid kids book.  The basic premise is that this kid gives a mouse a cookie, which leads to the mouse wanting milk, then something else, then something else, until it leads to this big ordeal that was much bigger than just a cookie.  Honestly, whenever I read the book I got a little bit miffed at the mouse because I thought he was being greedy and also at the kid because he was being pushed around by a mouse. 

Anyway, I think the moral of the story is about incidentals.  Nothing is ever just what you think it is.  It is sort of like the second part of Murphy's Law: everything will cost more and take longer. 

The reason I started thinking about this is because I broke down and bought the fenders for my bike.  The weather is great now, but I know it will be turning nasty at some point and I'd like to keep myself clean.  I figured $30 was worth not being ridiculed by students for muddy clothes. 

I took Sulu down to Josh at Walt's, my friendly neighborhood bike shop and he did a great job putting the fenders on.  He was a little backed up when I dropped it off so I picked it up the next day on my way to something else. 

Here's where it starts to get into mouse-cookie territory.  I toss my bike into the back seat of my car like I normally do, but now the fender sticks out so the car door won't shut comfortably!  I do a little adjusting, eventually get it in there, slam the door, and I'm on my way.  Later, I take the bike out to go for a ride, but the fender was bent by the car door!  Thankfully, it was an easy fix, but now I have a situation.

What I really should do is get a bike rack for my car so I can transport the bike without messing up the fender.  But if I get the bike rack then I need to get more gas because the wind resistance caused by having a bike hanging off my trunk will hurt my fuel efficiency.  And so the story goes...

You see where this is going right?  I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems, but right now I am a bit perplexed.  Here's hoping I don't end up with too many more steps in this conundrum.

Stats:
Places traveled: None
Meters: None
Cost of Fender: $32.19

Total: $32.19
Grand Total: $94.95
Left to save: $479.68

Happy Biking!

~Adam