back to portfolio | email me at dieffenbach @ alum.mit.edu UPs and DOWNs Friday, October 29, 2010 In Phoenix for the International Dyslexia Association's annual conference, I caught up with a friend from college and her family. We had dinner at their place on Thursday night in the Awhatukee region just south of South Mountain in Phoenix (described as the largest cul-de-sac in the United States). Apparently, superlatives characterize the area, as South Mountain Park is billed as the largest city park in the US. I borrowed a mountain bike from my friend's husband for a Friday morning ride and headed back to Phoenix for the night. Waking early, I drove back down to South Mountain Park for a Friday sunrise start. Departing from the Desert Foothills Trailhead (Desert Hills Parkway at 6th Street), I made a false start up the Telegraph Trail only to find it much more a hiking trail than one for mountain biking. Changing gears, I back-tracked and headed east on the 9.4 mile Desert Classic Trail paralleling the mountain's peak. The ride's short UPS and DOWNS ranged from moderate to technical, with great desert vistas all along the way. At the 8.3 mile mark, I suffered a rear flat. Walking the bike back a few hundred yards to a neighborhood street and some shade I'd just passed, I took a quick inventory. DOWN: Forgot my CO2 cartridges back at the hotel UP: Pump mounted on the frame DOWN: Spare is a road bike tube UP: Patch kit buried at the back of my saddle bag DOWN: Patch not holding UP: I happened to be right in front of a house owned by Tim, a mountain bike trail patroller with a tube and floor pump A quick change later, I was rolling back towards my rental car, taking things a bit easier to avoid another flat. Because really, what were the odds I'd flat again? About 15 minutes along, a thought popped into my head--had I zipped up the saddle bag? DOWN: Bag unzipped UP: Driver's license, credit card, and cash still there DOWN: Rental car key missing Given the good fortune of happening upon Ted, fate would have it that I'd double back and quickly find the key, which I'd removed from the remote and rental car tag. UP: Fate DOWN: I don't believe in fate With my gaze looking downward, what should have been 15 minutes took me 30. With my gaze downward, I didn't see an oncoming rider or soft sand as soon as I should have. Down I went, taking a hard knock on my left elbow and posterior, slicing my right calf with the chainring for good measure. Paying particular attention for the key on the rough stretches, I nonetheless made it back to Tim's house ... with no luck. My natural optimism dampened, I figured that having to cover the terrain yet again wouldn't yield a different result. I called Enterprise, who directed me to their roadside service with whom I arranged to meet at my friend's house in an hour or so. The return ride uneventful, I pulled up at the house and gratefully accepted the offered glass of water. And the hydrogen peroxide. And the anti-bacterial cream. Thirty minutes later, I received an automated call letting me know that the service would arrive in between 0 and 135 minutes. My 2pm conference exhibit shift was suddenly in jeopardy. About 90 minutes in, the locksmith arrived in his van. Not having space in the passenger seat, I hopped in the back and sat down on an office chair shock-corded to a workbench. The shock cord may have kept the empty chair in place, but my 170 pounds stressed the system beyond its design. Fortunately, the distance was short. As we pulled up next to my car in the trailhead parking lot, the locksmith remarked with some concern, "That's not a Honda." "Well, that's not good," I thought. Now, you might imagine that Honda was mistaken for Hyundai. And that would be a reasonable guess ... if it weren't for the fact that I was driving a Kia. UP: The locksmith had a few tricks up his sleeve DOWN: None of those tricks worked, and the roadside service directed him to depart UP: He drove me back to my friend's house, and she was able to drive me the 30 minutes back to downtown Phoenix DOWN: Enterprise wasn't all that thrilled with my returning the empty remote ... without the car UP: I spent time with some old friends and managed a great day of riding ... with some unexpected bonus miles! (As of this writing, the car is still in the trailhead parking lot. What do you think the chances are that they won't bill me at least an extra day?) back to portfolio | email me at dieffenbach @ alum.mit.edu