5/15/2007

Frustrated

I've been riding my bike pretty hard these past few weeks, so I decided I should take it easy this week. Give my legs a break so they can recover and I can go faster next week. My plan was to back off the miles a little, and back off the intensity a lot. But I was not planning on abandoning my commute to work or quitting riding altogether.

Yesterday was a frustrating day due to the weather--at least the forecasted weather. The prediction of dangerous thunderstorms in the afternoon scared me off my bike. No sense being swept up like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, especially when I'm trying to have a recovery week. So despite the 20 mph winds, when no rain came all day, let alone thunderstorms, I was annoyed. Driving home in beautiful sunny weather was surprisingly agravating--isn't sunny weather supposed to be a good thing?

Now this morning I checked the forecast and not a hint of rain. Again, the winds are pretty strong, but that just helps cool me off so I'm not to sweaty when I get to work. The temperature dropped from yesterday, so it was pretty cool. I put on my cold weather biking gear, loaded up my pack, and hopped on my bike. As I pulled out, the wheel felt mushy and, sure enough, I had a flat. Apparently my crash Saturday had messed up my tube a little bit. Not to despair, I had a spare in my pack.

Sure, changing the tube takes a few minutes, but I wasn't in a hurry--I just wanted to ride! I took my helmet off and settled in for a tube change. I've done this a dozen times before, so it wouldn't be a big deal. I took the old tube out, put the new one in, got the tire put back on and started to pump. 100 PSI, perfect. Put the pump back in the garage. I stepped back outside and put my helmet back on and POP!!! Like a gunshot or, more accurately, a 100 PSI balloon popping. That was my last spare tube, so no bike ride for me today!

I'm determined to ride today. I think I'll pick up a couple of new tubes on the way home from work today. Then I can put Evie in the trailer and I'll haul her around on my mountain bike.

3 comments:

Radman said...

Yo T, sorry that happened buddy. Just pretend you're kickin' it with the pros. They're all resting today too. Watch out when you put a new tube in that the rims of the tire aren't pinching it inside. That might have caused your flat. You might also have some kind of metal point due to your crash (what happened dude?).

I've still got a week left before I can hit the roads. :p I've been spinning for about two months now though, so I'm ready baby!

tex said...

Rad, I'm pretty sure it was a rim-pincher. I'm going to be a lot more careful with the tube I put in tonight! Why can't you hit the roads for another week? You going to be in Mad City Memorial Day weekend? I'll be in the area, so maybe we could go for a spin together.

Radman said...

Well, I have to get it tuned up. It's currently sitting in the corner of the garage, covered in tile dust from when we redid the bathroom over the winter. I've got an appointment in Wausau for it at Rib Mtn Cycles because they do a killer job and it's on the way to Bayfield, where we'll be camping this weekend.

Memorial day we're here, but I don't know what's on the plan. We might be doing something with Beck's 'rents. I'll have to check. On the weekend part, we're going to be working at TEH, so if there's a chance I can take off, maybe we can do a shortie around the lakes downtown. Drop me a line!