Giant hates me

OK, so today I took out the Giant again for the first time since the wonderful walk caused by the flat.

Made good time this morning, but then on the way home it started to express its apparent disgust with me.

Reached the bottom of the first hill, sprinting for the light in top gear, but didn't quite make it, so I got to make a very fast stop. Of course, it's pretty hard to downshift while doing that, so I was in top gear sitting at a red light. I didn't relish the idea of taking off in that gear, so I decided to downshift. I'm sure we've all done it, pick up the rear wheel, spin the cranks, work the shifters. I dropped the front into the small ring (it's a double) and started working the rear shifter....only the cranks seem to be spinning excessively. I look down to discover that the bike decided to drop the chain. Joy of joys, I'm in the middle lane with a light about to turn green with a bike that won't pedal. I retreat to the side of the road and try the old trick of pedaling forward while
working the front shifter....nope, it's binding on the rear. Apparently the chain dropped before the rear had shifter much, so the rear der was trying to be in the smallest gear while the chain was sitting on the second biggest, essentially freezing the rear drivetrain due to the sideways strain on the chain. 5 or 6 clicks of the right shifter and I actually get the chain moving on the cassette, so Ican begin messing with the front again. I decide to go the reliable way and just backpedal with my hands while putting the chain on the middle cog with my free hand. This is actually successful, so after THIS red light finishes, I can catchh the next green.

Things seem to be going well, at first.

My speed was getting progressively lower as time went on, I chalked it up to overstressed legs and the headwind we've been having all week. My plans to turn in a sub 1 hour roud trip seemed unlikely to come to fruition. The high speed sprint at the end of the bike path saw me only going about 15mph, I couldn't figure out the problem. I continued riding at a crappy pace until I got to the turnoff at my apartment, and felt the rear end try to jump out from under me. Oh, I suddenly got a theory as to where my speed had gone....yep, the tire felt like it had maybe 40psi. I had pumped it up in the morning, so I knew it had managed to get another leak. By the time I walked to my apartment proper (very short walk) it was at more like 20 pounds, and as of a few minutes ago it was completely flat (on the bottom, at least). So my project for..whenever I feel like it is to find where the hole is and see what might have caused it. I have a feeling I need to replace the rim tape or something, not too long ago it had a small puncture on the rim side.

Oh well, the Long Haul Trucker has never failed me yet.