Flattened workout...

Sunday, May 26, 2013
I knew I had to ride out to Dan’s to pick up a car and that I wanted to take a longer route.  I’d allowed almost two hours for the ride and 30 minutes to drive home afterwards, which would have me arriving about 15 minutes before family members on their way for our Sunday dinner.  I was working in the yard and getting so much good weeding done that I failed to notice I’d about run out of time to begin riding.  I quickly changed, filled my water bottles and rolled down the driveway.  I’d made it about two miles when I noticed the rear tire going flat.

Cyclists know that the rear tire is the bitch to change.  If it were the front, the tire comes straight off and you go to work.  The rear involves the chain and derailleur, which for me always spells trouble.  I get flats quite regularly and at a ratio of 20 to 1; rear to front.  It’s a law…the pain in the ass tire blows much more frequently.

I had a spare tube with me, but since I’d just started and was already at the edge of making it on time, knew I couldn’t spend the time to change the tire and still make it home before company.  Instead, I pulled out the cell phone and called Holly for a rescue pick-up.  Once home, I checked the flat and found a piece of glass had penetrated the $50 indestructible tire I’d purchased and punctured the tube.  I had a spare tire hanging on a nail in the garage and went about the business of changing it.  Once I had it remounted and ready to test, I noticed that it was rubbing against the rim.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered the tire I’d put on the bike was mislabeled and was too big for my frame.  I drove to the bike store, bought the right sized tire, returned home and replaced it.  In all, I spent an hour getting the bike ready for the ride I’d need to take first thing in the morning to retrieve the car.

We had burgers on the grill, which I chased with a large smoothie to offset the fatty calories of two juicy ones.  I’m sure I read somewhere that smoothies have the quality about them.  I was extremely disappointed that I didn’t get in my workout on such a perfect riding day, though I had done reasonably active yard work and ridden a whole two miles.  Still, I think I’m going to list this as a ‘rest’ day and go for a long ride tomorrow to make up for it.