Picture this: I've been lagging behind on a hilly ride - five guys, all hard-core serious riders, plus me. I can hang on the flats, but on the hills, my body is tired and it shows. Plus, I'm in a skirt, of course - everyone is quite aware that I'm a girl.
We're 1.5 miles from the end of our ride, at a stoplight. All of a sudden, hisssssssss! We all look at the source, and it's my front tire, visibly deflating.
Laugh or cry? Well, of course it's laugh - my nerves got the best of me. We cross the intersection - I carry my bike, thank goodness it's light - and I stop in some shade. Since we're close to the end of the ride and it is workday, the group splits up - three guys head back, two stay with me.
They offer to help me, but I say, "You know, I appreciate that, but I think I ought to do it myself. I'll let you know if I need some help." They look like they approve.
I get out my tools. I take the front tire off. They're totally watching my every move. I get the tire off the rim easily and pull out the tube. I hand the tube to one of the guys, saying, "Can you check this out and see if you can see the leak?"
Then I say something about how I'm not wearing gloves today, but I need to check the inside of my tire. Immediately the guy checking my tube shows me the hole - right next to the valve - and we can see there's nothing inside my tire that caused it. Looks like a pinch flat that blew.
I get out the new tube, insert it all around, and tuck the tire back into the rim. I have to use my tire lever to finish tucking the tire in, but it goes pretty easily. One of the guys looks at me and says, "Nice job! That was fast!" The other guy nods.
I am so excited, but now comes the hard part. Fortunately, I have a great pump - it's this one - and I'm able to pretty quickly get the PSI up to 90. One of the guys had offered to take over for a spell if I wanted; once I got to 90, I figured he could finish it off (it's so hard to pump beyond that). He gets it to 110 for me and we're off!
Suddenly, I'm not sore and tired anymore. I'm elated. I took care of my own flat tire when it counted!
So here are today's data:
Food:
Breakfast: English muffin, ham, cheese, cottage cheese, nectarine, milk in coffee: 445 cals
Snack: String cheese and cherry tomatoes, 105 cals
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on ciabbatta, 600 calories
Chocolate: 1 small piece, 55 cals
Total so far: 1205 calories
Dinner: Chicken breast, peas, sweet potato with a little fake butter: 600 cals
Dessert: Someone brought over chocolate pudding pie, yum: 300 cals
Total for the day: 2105 cals
Exercise:
1.5 hours riding my bike, 800 calories burned
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5 comments:
Aren't the (not so) little victories a joy?
NICE WORK! That is awesome. Yay, girl power! :)
I'm impressed. I even get P to put my bike on the trainer for me, I'm such a girl about such things.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. In answer to your question, there are a few reasons why I'm not racing this one. First, I want my first "race" race for the season to be my baby-tri on October 15th. This is just transition training, and a fun structured brick! Secondly, I am trying not to push myself too hard. I ruined my running season and my dreams of a solid first marathon by overtraining during a stressful period. My training has been (deliberately) light so far. Which leads to the third reason.. I'm scared! I know I can't live up to my old standards, and that really bugs me!
Sorry for the long comment! I hope it makes sense!
(PS- your ability to balance training and family is quite amazing)
Go Jessica! I swear there was something in the air yesterday - Lewis got a flat too! And on his first try to bike into work- argh! You're both troopers though - he fixed his as well! Of course, he did it later and at the kitchen table....LOL :)
Regan
Glad I didn't ride yesterday if it was flat day!
Great job on the tire.
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