Rest Day UPDATE
Flats: 2
What an afternoon. How can anyone have 2 flats on a day off, you ask? (note: I had been tied for the lead with 8, but I think I just took a commanding lead).
I rode 2 miles to the bike store to restock on tubes and CO2 cartridges, replace a water bottle cage (bottle was not being held snugly) and get new sunglasses. But it was uphill into a 25 mph headwind. Most of the time I was doing 8 mph and it felt like climbing a 15% grade.
When I mounted up I realized that I had a dreaded Hotel Flat. So I patiently and carefully changed it and rode off. Got my stuff (a Trek Superstore – largest shop that I have ever seen, and they were knowledgeable on top of that. Gave me a discount because “I respect what you are doing.” Then I went to the Subway next door for lunch; came out and discovered that the tire was soft. First I tried reinflating the tube – it blew up. Changed it again and this time saw the problem: a huge slit in the tire sidewall, with the tube poking through. I had carefully inspected the tire, but when it was not inflated the cut was almost invisible, even though I knew what I was looking for. Fortunately, I was at the bike store, so I bought a new tire.
I rode a total of 6.53 miles and it completely wore me out. The wind was from the east; its direction is going to change constantly as the storm moves through, but if we had been riding through Albuquerque today at noon, it would have been impossible.
I am beginning to appreciate Mike’s ABC rules:
Air: Check tires and then recheck
Brakes: Check action and pads
Cables: Check all connections
Dinner: I had dinner with my friend Marcia Jarvis and her husband Ron Tinsley, whom I had not met before. I think that Marcia and I had been looking forward to reconnecting for a long time. As I said in a previous blog, her first husband Greg and I rode our first centuries together. I always gave Jerry credit for getting me into cycling, but in retrospect, we all inspired the others. When Greg moved to California, he wanted to try everything (hot air ballooning, cycling, etc.) and I think that gave both Marcia and myself the desire to set goals and do things. Marcia and I are the only people that I know who commuted by bicycle through the Sepulveda Ave. Tunnel under the LAX runway. We’ve both been back there and said “We did that? We must have been nuts”. There is a road that allows a cyclist to bypass it now. She now lives with Ron and her mules and horses (and dog) in Pagosa Springs, CO. Greg died on the Challenger in 1986 living a dream that he had set for himself; we both miss him very much.
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