Well, not really. I headed out today to put in some miles in preparation for the MS150 coming up in about 5 weeks...speaking of which, feel free to make a donation to my campaign . If you do, you won't get any flats for at least the next year and your overall speed will increase by 5mph...that's pretty big! You'll also be helping to support people living with MS and helping to fund new research.
Back to the ride...
I left today in somewhat of a hurry. I had some people coming by to look at the house and needed to get out, speaking of which I actually have an offer on the house now (not these people) so I may be moving out sooner than I thought. In my rush to leave I forgot to put on sunscreen. I didn't really think it was a big deal...it was overcast. I ended up leaving my arm warmers at home too, but after a couple of blocks I went back for those! Still no sunscreen!
I headed to the Arboretum from my place. I found a new, more direct route that shaved off some time. Nothing too exciting on 360. I was feeling good and pushing fairly hard. I did realize that I need to come up with some easier/longer routes for days that I need to take it easy. I seem to have only one speed which is to push fairly hard. Anyways I had never ridden on 620 before, at least not up to 2222. The ride was nice, lots of shoulder, not a ton of traffic, and a good amount of other riders.
A little ways before I got to the dam I received a flat! YAY! I had run over a 1" staple and it tore up the tube...and did some damage to the tire too! The tire was salvageable but the tube was wasted. Great. I pulled out my spare tube and stuffed the trashed one back into my bag (nod to the Noob). Started to air it up and realized the C02 was out...great. Grabbed the other C02 and filed up the tire. Rode about 3 miles and realized the tire was getting flat...awesome! I wasn't really thinking clearly and just topped off the tire with my last little bit of C02. About 2 miles later I was flat again! I had just passed the dam and was on the up hill area. A ride passed "need anything?" - "Ya! got a pump or something?" - "Nope, just tubes..." Sigh, oh well. 4 other riders blew by, not one asked and I didn't have time as they raced passed to ask them. Finally I got to a clearing and pulled off the tire and tube. The hole was small...so small I couldn't find it After about 5 minutes of waiting a guy on a VERY nice tri-bike rolls up and stops...asking if I need anything. I explained the situation to him and he ended up giving me 2 C02 canisters (he had no tubes as he was running tubulars) I sat there for a while and decided to over inflate the tire ... and then I found the hole. Apparently, Bontrager sells patched tubes. This one had 3 other "pro" looking patches in it. I took it out of the box when I fixed the previous flat of the day! One of Bontrager "spec" patches was leaking :-(. I fixed it...filled back up and didn't have a single problem the entire way home. Thanks Tri-Guy!
Coming down 2222 was awesome :-) On the hilly part I shifted down to 53-12 and pushed as hard as I could...ended up spinning out around 40mph, then gravity took me to 52mph! Which was sustained for about 10 seconds or so...awesome! The Smoothie ES has always been rock solid in descents. This one was no exception! It was even responsive enough to dodge some trash :-)
I'm also getting better at my track stands and as long as there is a slight grade I can hold it for a good while. Oh, and if you haven't been down Steck Ave you need to go check it out! The city did a VERY nice job resurfacing it and putting the bike lanes in! It has the same asphault like parts of Shoal Creek has...you know, where you hit it and speed up without doing anything!
I liked the Dam Loop quite a bit and I'll be riding it more frequently. I guess I had been worried about the hills previously but they "ain't no thang"
J
Don't Forget!
