Well, low 60's and sunny today, so off to the trail I go... Or do I?
Well, I was ready to put my bike on the car rack, but first I inflated the tires... except the rear tire was flat as could be. I swear a couple times, since the tube was only a week old, put on last week at the tune-up. So I get it off, put on a spare, start inflating it at *POP*. Guess my spare tube had a flaw in it... at least I found out at home and not on the trail. Of my last tube comes out and goes on.
So a pit-stop is in order to pick up more tubes... delaying the start of my ride till almost 3pm. So much for my early start.
So I'm off on the trail, and there is a little wind, but it's nothing to complain about, just makes it feel chilly in the shade. When I hit the starbucks (my normal half-way point) I'm feeling pretty good, so I decide to continue on instead of turning back. This was probably my mistake. as I'm going down the trail the back end of my bike starts sliding around. I pull over and it's obviously lost air, so top it off with my hand pump and continue on. By the time I hit Boat-House row, it's squirming around again, but when I top it off I get a rush of air, and it's flat as could be. Good thing I stopped off for more spare tubes, huh? So another pit stop and I'm back on my way. I make it to the Art Museum before turning around.
Right around conshehocken I see a cute young lady on the side of the trail, so I ask if everything is okay, but she says no. I jam on the breaks to see what's wrong. She explains that she was riding along, and a cute puppy catches her eye, so she proceeded to ride into a concrete pylon dividing the trail from the road. DOH! to make matters worse, the bike is brand new, only her second ride. She broke off one of her aero bar pads and her front break was jammed into the tire, so I bent that back into place for her and told her my story of three tire changes...
So I did my good deed for the day. Now here is my question, Would I have been a total A$$ if I had asked for for a date? For the record, I didn't. I figured she had enough on her mind, and the last thing I wanted her to think is that I helped her for some ulterior motive. This is probably why I'm still single...
Anyway, total for the day was 42 miles, equal to my longest ride last year. Strange, the only time I blew a tire last year was on the day I did 42 miles, following the same path. There is a metric century coming up in two weeks, with one option is a 47 mile ride. I'm thinking about it...
--T