oh Snap! Pssssssss

Tuesday, hump day for this Short week. My bike is making creaking noises and occasionally the chain is slipping just a little bit. Just enough to be annoying. On my way to Lucy's at lunch I'm wondering what it is and changing gears to see if I can diagnose it. On my way back it is happening more and it's getting much more annoying. I'm convinced it is a bottom bracket thing. At least it sounds like it and I'm not sure the chain is skipping, it could be something else. I'm supposing that after this bike sat for so damn long, the bearings probably need to be repacked if not replaced. So, confident that I have accurately diagnosed my malfunction I continue on my way back to work. At a red light I decide the oncoming cars are far enough away that I can just scoot through the intersection. I stand up to give it a good quick start - SNAP! The chain breaks and leaves me spinning my pedals in the air, with cars coming 40 mph at me. I kick with one foot fast enough to get me through before pissing anyone off, and glide down the last hill to my office at the Dr. Pepper Building. I park, lock, pull the chain off, and head inside to have some laughs with the office. Polly is nice enough to offer me a ride to Bob's Bikes. I decide I should know something about my derailleurs and stuff in case I need a new chain, and when I go out to look, I've got a friggin' flat tire as well. Well, the guys at Bob's sold me a tube and tire (the tires was pretty shot, dry rotted with cracks in it - plus it's a big knobby tire and I was wanting to get a more roady tire) and hooked me up with a few chain links at no charge. I got everything fixed on up, thanks to Bob's Bikes, Polly, and a very understanding boss. Headed home with the bike riding great again, and found a long 7/16 socket on 55th street on the way home.