Heather meets the SAG wagon

So I planned on a century today - at least a metric century. Could've happened, but my back tire had other plans.

I have a bad habit of bragging about never having had a flat tire. Well, I don't do anything halfway, so when I had a flat tire, I completely blew the tire. Fortunately, it was between quarter of a mile and half of a mile from the last rest stop before completing 69.1 miles (which would've been about 71 for me because I took a wrong turn earlier). I was riding along at warm-up pace when all of a sudden I heard a loud POP and then felt this woosh of air on the back of my leg. And I knew why.

There was a man riding behind me who agreed to give me a hand with the tire (back one - after all, I've never changed one). Well, he was so fast that by the time I dug out the pump and my spare tube, the wheel was already off and the tire pried from the wheel. So much for learning, but I certainly wasn't going to complain to him. I play the damsel in distress REALLY WELL.

His comment, "well, at least it was just the tube." Au contraire! (as we discovered after replacing everything - big old shred marks on the back tire). So I took the bike back to the rest stop, and everyone there agreed that a call to the SAG was the best course of action. As it was on its way, one long-time rider did rig it with a Powerbar wrapper, but the SAG was just pulling up as I was about to head out (and I'd already called Brian to tell him I was going to end my ride at the 55 mile point), so I took the air-conditioned, non-self-propelled way back. A bit safer, since I had no idea the skill of the person who was working with the bike. And I was a bit squeamish.

All in all, though, good ride. 55 miles in 4 hours and 6 minutes. I would've been fighting the wind the 16 remaining miles, so it would've dropped a bit, but I felt good the whole way, and I think I'm ready for the MS 150 in 2 weeks (yeah, doing that again). Unfortunately, the bike's in the shop - needed a tune-up before the big ride, and I'm having both tires replaced (figure I have between 2500 and 3000 miles on them; it's time), so no ride tomorrow.

hln

Posted by hln at August 27, 2005 08:38 PM | Cycling | TrackBack