First bike commute of the year

So with my trike all set up I rode in today. I ran into a few issues. I was lazy and didn't pack my standard tools/pump in my bag. I just grabbed a multi-tool, camel-back and my work clothes to ride in. I ended up paying for it as I got a flat on the way to work. At the end of my 3 mile ride I go down a small hill and noticed the rear was sliding out. I realized I had a flat, blech. I got off the trike and just walked the final 40yrds to the office. I had to call Kristin (my wife) to ask her to bring me a pump and my patch kit.

When I had the trike up and was repairing the flat I noticed that my chain was running directly on the idler guard on the return side. It has chewed through a bit of the guard so it probably has been running this way for a while. I fixed that while I was there. I think I found a few of the reasons why my trike was running so slowly. I will clean the drive train tonight and see how much better the trike runs on tomorrow's commute. Lesson learned, don't tempt the tire gods by leaving the tools home for "just one ride".