the reason to always zip up

the reason...,
originally uploaded by robin kibby.

Thinking that all my MFA apps had to make it in the mail today, I hustled up to Kinkos/Fedex to drop off paperwork well before the West Coast cut off. My normal impulse is to walk, but I recently discovered that places that I think of as "3 minutes away" are 15.
So, if Kinko's is 5 minutes away by foot in my mind, that would equal about 40 minutes round trip in the real world. Stress and driving don't mix, so I opt for my trusty folding bike.
A feature of this tiny bike is that the bag hooks on the front stem, and its easy to tote paperwork, personal stuff, and bike locks. It's is so convenient, that I stopped zipping up all the compartments for easy access.
Unfortunately, my slick system doesn't fare so well on unmaintained city streets. Faced with an impressive pothole impact,my Zire 71 (dubbed "beedu" for its pleasant melodic alarm) launched into the air, just enough to fall under my rear tire. Farewell passwords and contacts and FedEx account info. Back to the house for hardcopy.
Lesson of the day - always zip the bike bag.