Why don't your ride your bike, mister?

Today was a strenuous commuting day. I woke up a bit late. I was hustling to make the bus on time, and I got caught in a gutter area. There was a lot of sand collected from storm runoff, and for all I know, from sanding last winter. I started to swerve a lot, and I finally decided to attempt a stop by putting my foot down. That sent me for a pretty good tumble. My chain fell off, but my heart wasn't free. I had to put that puppy back on and keep moving. I knew I was a bit behind schedule, so I pushed pretty hard. A little more than a quarter mile from the stop, I saw the bus turning to wind its way around to the stop. I pushed even harder. I had to stand up to pedal as hard as I could up the hill. With about 50 yards to go, the bus pulled up to the stop. I finished the course by riding in the bus's lane, so that he wouldn't leave. Turns out he wouldn't have left for about two minutes. And I was beat.

I got to work and had a pretty good day. I left with a good amount of time to make it to the bus stop. However, my rear tire was flat. I had 13 minutes to make it about a mile. No time to change/repair the flat. So I started walking briskly. I kept watch on the time, and I realized a little less than half way there that I would need to run. So I ran pushing my bike and carrying my 20-some pound backpack. I stopped to walk a couple of times, but I knew where the bus was in relation to the stop (having seen it go by). So I had to push hard. Again, the bus pulled into the stop when I was about 50 yards away. Thankfully, the driver paused for me. I don't recall being quite so worn out. Today's treks to the bus stop were two of the four hardest I've ever had. And they happened on the same day. Ugh.