Beautiful day, sort of........

It was a gorgeous day for December. Heck, it was a gorgeous day for any season! The sky was cloudless, wind was almost imperceptible, and after a 28 degree start it warmed into the low 50's. Not much to complain about.........except for the FIVE flat tires I got!!!!!!

Cecil Anne just happened to capture the essence of my day with her camera.



Cecil Anne is a pretty speedy rider and ends up with a lot of time to take pictures. See the rest of her photos of this trip HERE.

I just don't get flat tires. With perhaps 6000-8000 mile per year I "might get" one flat. I got one in October when I was riding on the Cows and Capes Permanent with John Henry and Joanne. Today I got 5 more while riding the Three Prairies Permanent with John Henry and Joanne. I'm not sure if the problems are related to riding permanents or with the company I ride with but I've got to change! ;-)

Today I was joining 8 Randonneurs as they finished their quest for an "R-12" which is the completion of a sanctioned 200k ride in each of 12 consecutive months. We started from Newberg this morning at 7:30AM on our way to Dallas for our first leg. I was still in the city limits of Newberg when I got my first flat. Since the Randonneurs where on a schedule with a lot depending on completion I waved them on and proceeded to repair the flat then pedal like heck trying to catch up with them.
I made it to Dundee (2 miles) and had another. This time it looked like it might have been a pinch flat. I repaired it then pedaled away again.

I was working hard trying to close the distance, probably some of the hardest sustained riding I've ever done. With a combination of riding hard and taking a more direct route I was able to catch back up near Dallas. (hey, I'm no Rando, I'm not bound by those rules!)

Being back in the pack was short lived. Within 5 miles of rejoining them I flatted again. John Henry stopped and loaned me a tube (for I had used mine already today) After making sure I had things under control he continued on. Before he was out of sight while inflating the tube the valve core failed. I pulled the tube out, patched one of my old tubes and inflated again.

I again began the process of playing catch up, though playing is hardly the word for it!
I had made my way another 15 miles or so when the now all too familiar sound was heard again. Yup, another flat. At this point I knew I'd never catch the group again today. I repaired the flat and pedaled back into Newberg. I stopped by the local bike shop and bought replacement tubes.

I didn't need to complete an R-12, but really wanted a century. I made sure the light worked and started off on my own route to pick up the miles. I rode a loop down to Hopewell via mostly the Lafayette-Salem Hwy and back up via the roads just west of that.

My flats were over for the day and I was able to ride that loop without issue.
I got back into Newberg at 5PM with my century goal achieved.

I got cleaned up and waited for my Randonneur friends to finish.
They began showing back up around 6PM. All had big smiles having completed their R-12. Congratulations to Vincent, John K, John Henry and Joanne, Cecil, Lynn, Bill, and Sal on a job well done! Bill's smile was a bit tempered as he walked his bike the last few blocks....... because he had a flat tire!

Even with the issues it was a good day to be out on a bike!

Cecil has a good rendition of how the real riders of the day progressed, including a few photos, and a great commentary on narrow minded locals on her blog, check it out.

You can get a recounting of the ride through Lynne's eyes here

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...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today...........107...............0................107
Jan total.......98.....+........402....=..........500
Feb total.....385.....+.......220....=...........605
Mar total.....659.....+........41.....=...........700
April total...629.....+........57.....=...........676
May total.....642.....+........23.....=...........665
June total....804.....+.........0.....=...........804
July total....933.....+.........0.....=...........933
August total..732.....+........23.....=...........755
Sept total....338.....+.........0.....=...........338
Oct total.....632.....+.........0.....=...........632
Nov total.....352.....+........75.....=...........427
YTD...........6327....+.......841....=.........7205
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