Oops...I did it again

Many of you know that one of our favorite elements of our new life in Las Vegas has been biking. I went so far as to buy a bike rack for the roof of my car that is probably worth more than my car at this stage (no kidding). Well, my history with roof racks is not a positive one, and I've just added to it today. 

This evening Karen and I were going to ride the loop through Red Rock Canyon together. This was to be KW's first time riding the loop. We even got a baby-sitter for Jack. 

With the bike rack on my car, and Jack's car seat in Karen's car, we decided to take two cars to the babysitter's house (which is just a few minutes away from us), leave her car there, and take my car up to the canyon. I followed Karen to the babysitter's house and turned into a parking space. Unfortunately, I pulled into a parking space with a sun shade over it. As it turns out, the bikes on top of the car don't actually fit under sun shade. Ouch!

Karen's bike, sadly, took all of the impact. When I pulled the bike off the car, I saw that many of the parts were pushed out of their rightful positions (the front wheel was no longer straight and the brake lever was crooked, etc.). Nothing seemed to be broken or bent, just out-of-place. In place of riding the loop together, I took the bike to the shop to had them check the bike, and Karen went and told the babysitter that we wouldn't be needing her services this evening. Thankfully, nothing was broken or bent on the bike or the rack (and--believe me--no one cares about the car). Karen's brake handle, however, does now have a nice scrape and some beautiful brown paint on it that it didn't have before today. Sorry Karen; I owe you one. 

The funny thing about this whole situation is that I know that I am prone to such mishaps (having, in my roof-rack career to date, already lost several pairs of skis to the freeway after forgetting to latch the rack, and having been 50% responsible for driving a car into a parking garage with my bike on top of it). In fact, I am so aware of my tendencies this way that when I put the bikes on the roof I check them so many times that I've wondered if I have OCD or am a mini Rain Man or something. Honestly, I check the bikes to death when I put them up there. Come to find out though, these checks don't actually help you if you drive your car+bikes under low-hanging objects! 

I guess the grand lesson in all this is that my life is just one big lesson. If the tables had been turned and Karen had done something like this and damaged my bike, I don't think that I would have been as calm, patient, and forgiving with her as she was with me. I continue to learn from her in many ways. Life is good when you marry way, WAY up like I did. On the other hand, I certainly do feel badly for her for getting the short (bald, and some might even say a little heavy) end of the stick with me!