7 of us braved a January day to join him on a planned 37 mile ride in honor of his 37th birthday. (he's such a youngster!)
It was par for the course for winter rides, especially with the recent snows and all the debris left behind. Our little entourage battled flat tires. Since I had my share in December I was spared today. Or maybe it was the new Slimelite tubes I was running? At any rate our group had 3 flats today. Steve was the unfortunate recipient of 2 of them. Here was his first.
Steve and I thought we had enough get up and go to catch up with the rest of the group so we sent them on ahead as we tended to the repair. Unfortunately, as we pedaled to catch up I missed a turn (I had selected today's course!!!!) and ended up a long way from where we were supposed to be and done a reasonable amount of up and down climbing to get there! We ended up riding to North Plains where the plan was to hook back up with our group and have very near the same miles they had at that point. What we didn't know at the time the plan was hatched was that the remaining riders would have tire issues of their own. Steve and I ended up riding the course in reverse until we met up with them, adding ten miles to our planned ride. No real problem, the bikes were already filthy, what's a little more grit to wash off tomorrow!
We were now regrouped and continued on our way. Here we are just ready to cross Hwy 26 in the Roy area. Those who ride the Snooseville Populaire will recognize this location.
It wasn't too many miles after this and Steve had another flat. Just to keep things interesting he had it on the front this time.
We all stopped and waited, some helped, as Steve got the bike ready to ride again.
We finished the ride without incident, and ended up back at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse where we spent a few hours celebrating Shawn's birthday.
All in all, it was a good day. Rain on the commute there this morning, but nothing more than a few drops on our ride.
I would have gone out for another 3 miles to bring me to an even 50, but it got dark.
EVENING UPDATE:
Okay, there was this discussion going on between the little bike pansy on my shoulder and myself.
Me: "I should go ride 3 lousy miles to get my 50 miles for the day in".
Bike Pansy (BP):"You already rode 47, that's enough for this time of year, besides, it's dark."
Me: "I have a light, and I'd really like to be able to tally this as a 50 mile ride at the end of the year"
BP: "But it's late"
Me: "It will take less than 15 minutes to do this including getting back into bike clothes"
BP: "But in the grand scheme of things 3 addtional miles don't amount to diddly because............."
I didn't hear the rest of the arguement. I was putting my bikes shoes back on, a windbreaker, and attaching my HID light to the helmet.
It took me a bit longer to do that than I thought, but it wasn't too long before I was back with my three miles!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............50...............0.................50
Jan total........53.....+.........35....=...........88
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