A Saturday that would have been better spent in bed
There are great Saturday rides and then there are the ones that I later realize I should have skipped. Today's was the latter.
The truth is, I shouldn't have ridden at all today. I've been having a lot of flats lately and I knew that there was a hole in my tire. It looked particularly bad when I pumped my tires last night. I haven't had time to buy a new tire. It's just plain irresponsible to go out riding with faulty equipment, even if it's just a tire.
The ride started out great. We had about 60 km planned, including a few nice hills. The first hill was about 4 km long. Two of the guys riding with us were already way ahead when we got there, but the rest of us were pretty much together. At the start of the hill, two men passed me, but they never managed to get more than 100 meters or so ahead. Then, the only kid riding with us passed me (actually, I'm not sure what he was doing behind me -- he must have been riding really slowly in order to chat with his dad). As we approached the top of the hill, the two men started getting tired. I passed one and then, just before the top, I passed the other. I was "queen of the mountain"! Well, sort of. The kid was still in front of me, as were the two guys who had long since broken away from the rest of the group. There was a short flat section and then a long downhill. I was feeling great. I got to the very beginning of the downhill section and then...
Pssssssssssss...............
Ugh. The air was slowly leaking out of my tire. I stopped, fixed it (actually, one of the men did) and continued on down the hill, but I had a really bad feeling. It had only been about 40 km since the last flat. I was only 16 km into this ride.
I got to the bottom of the hill and turned left at the intersection to where everyone was waiting for me. I downshifted and stopped my bike. Just as I was about to start moving again, one of the guys pointed out that I'd dropped my chain. Not only had I dropped the chain, but it was stuck in my derailleur. This has happened several times lately -- I think I need to do some minor screw adjustment -- it should take a whole five minutes to get it right. I need to stop being so lazy.
Got the chain out of the derailleur and back on the chainring and started riding again. Then, 8 km after the previous flat...
POP! Psss....
This wasn't a slow leak like the last one -- by the time I got off my bike, there was absolutely no air left in the tire. This was when I decided that I'd had enough for the day. I was holding everyone back and it just wasn't fun to keep thinking about how long the tube would hold out before the next flat. Plus, I was out of tubes. Actually, I'd only taken one spare (because it was all I had at home) -- I had to borrow one to fix the second flat. I was going to just have my husband come pick me up, but then someone suggested I turn left at the next intersection, cutting the ride about 20 km short. That sounded good to me and there were two other people going that way, so that's what I did. I managed to ride the next 16 km without a flat.
So my 60 km ride turned into a very aggravating 40 km ride. I'm not getting back on my bike until I have a new rear tire. And while I'm at it, I need to adjust that front derailleur.
The truth is, I shouldn't have ridden at all today. I've been having a lot of flats lately and I knew that there was a hole in my tire. It looked particularly bad when I pumped my tires last night. I haven't had time to buy a new tire. It's just plain irresponsible to go out riding with faulty equipment, even if it's just a tire.
The ride started out great. We had about 60 km planned, including a few nice hills. The first hill was about 4 km long. Two of the guys riding with us were already way ahead when we got there, but the rest of us were pretty much together. At the start of the hill, two men passed me, but they never managed to get more than 100 meters or so ahead. Then, the only kid riding with us passed me (actually, I'm not sure what he was doing behind me -- he must have been riding really slowly in order to chat with his dad). As we approached the top of the hill, the two men started getting tired. I passed one and then, just before the top, I passed the other. I was "queen of the mountain"! Well, sort of. The kid was still in front of me, as were the two guys who had long since broken away from the rest of the group. There was a short flat section and then a long downhill. I was feeling great. I got to the very beginning of the downhill section and then...
Pssssssssssss...............
Ugh. The air was slowly leaking out of my tire. I stopped, fixed it (actually, one of the men did) and continued on down the hill, but I had a really bad feeling. It had only been about 40 km since the last flat. I was only 16 km into this ride.
I got to the bottom of the hill and turned left at the intersection to where everyone was waiting for me. I downshifted and stopped my bike. Just as I was about to start moving again, one of the guys pointed out that I'd dropped my chain. Not only had I dropped the chain, but it was stuck in my derailleur. This has happened several times lately -- I think I need to do some minor screw adjustment -- it should take a whole five minutes to get it right. I need to stop being so lazy.
Got the chain out of the derailleur and back on the chainring and started riding again. Then, 8 km after the previous flat...
POP! Psss....
This wasn't a slow leak like the last one -- by the time I got off my bike, there was absolutely no air left in the tire. This was when I decided that I'd had enough for the day. I was holding everyone back and it just wasn't fun to keep thinking about how long the tube would hold out before the next flat. Plus, I was out of tubes. Actually, I'd only taken one spare (because it was all I had at home) -- I had to borrow one to fix the second flat. I was going to just have my husband come pick me up, but then someone suggested I turn left at the next intersection, cutting the ride about 20 km short. That sounded good to me and there were two other people going that way, so that's what I did. I managed to ride the next 16 km without a flat.
So my 60 km ride turned into a very aggravating 40 km ride. I'm not getting back on my bike until I have a new rear tire. And while I'm at it, I need to adjust that front derailleur.
posted by bari | 10:05
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