When you least expect it

There are people in the world who have the life philosophy that about the time everything is going well for you, that's when life sneaks up and bitch slaps you.

I am not one that normally subscribes to such a bleak life outlook, but today I did encounter one of those moments. I was jazzed about today's ride. The plan called for 2hrs, and I was actually looking forward to racking up some mad miles as well as trying out my homebrewed climbing workout. To top it off, the legs were feeling really snappy...so all the ingredients for a good day of training were there.
At every hill I would accelerate my cadence and try and keep a good speed to the top. I was feeling strong, and I was recovering fast. I was in the zone. I approached one of our few steep grades and once again worked at keeping as high a pace up the climb as possible. This particular hill was my first real test. It's one of the longer/steeper climbs available to me, so how well I could A)attack it, and B) recover afterwards, would tell volumes about how I need to refine/continue my climbing based training. I got to the top, and while my HR had snuck up to above 180, it started coming back down fast, even though I was still maintaining a 95 or so rpm cadence.
By this point I was really enjoying my time out on the bike. I come to the first stop sign, and I'm ready to push on for the balance of my 2hrs and then...



This is when I got ambushed, cold-cocked, bushwhacked. It occurred to me that the rear end (the bike's, not mine) seemed unusually squirrely. I look down, and to my displeasure, I see my back tire is going flat. Dammit to hell!
So much for my 2hr ride. I begrudgingly turn around to head for the car. Since I'd topped up the air in my tires prior to leaving the car I figured I'd be able to make it home. NOT! I got maybe 200 or 300 yards and the tire was getting more and more soft. I'm sure questions of carrying a spare tube and/or air are sure to come up, but let's just say that for numerous reasons those options were not available to me.

A good samaritan stops and gives me access to a couple of C02 cartridges to get my tire inflated. Still thinking that my tube should be capable of holding SOME air, I mistakenly think that this inflation will get me home. Unfortunately it only gets me about 3-3.5 miles closer to home. I try getting my weight off the rear tire by standing up and pedaling...that works for a few minutes. The inevitable finally happens and the tire goes totally flat. I'm looking at the prospect of a 5 mile walk. Yippee. Thank God a couple of Army guys took pity on me and gave me a lift back to my car.

Lesson learned. I won't be such an easy mark next time.

Tomorrow I'll try it again.