I was out the door this morning and you guessed it front flat. I was thinking it was ok so I just inflated it and went on down the road with a smooshed muffin in my back pocket. About 3km’s down the road I saw the bright lights of a gas station and decided to suck it up and change it. Well when I stopped and took the wheel off I immediately regretted the choice because this place was a mosquito pit. I must be delicious because they would not get off of me. Even once I pulled out the chunk of rubber that caused the flat and got back on the road I found myself scratching as if they were still one me.
At this point I was getting competitive with myself because I was behind and wanted to get back on time. Luckily I had a wind pushing me so within 2 hours I was on time and infact making time. Then all of a sudden my front end started to bounce. I pulled over and there rested a nice piece of wire sticking out of my tire. I can only assume it was from my incident 10kms back. Now before I go any further I am going to put my foot down on this, I am not going to be taking any more state routes in Florida because of the drivers. My incident today was the closest I have ever got to getting smoked in my life. I was rolling down this two-lane road and this woman in a gmc Yukon pulls out to pass ignoring im there. This forces me over onto the grass because she kept coming over. After giving her the thumbs up I noticed that she was on a cell phone as well. About the only thing that was missing was the lipstick in the other hand. This did not make me a very happy camper.
So after changing this flat I was behind again. I knew I only had another 15 miles of this tailwind so I hit the gas. By the time I made it to Tice I was back on time and was feeling good. That was until I turned and got the tailwind I had in the form of a crosswind. I still pushed it because my legs were feeling good. It was at this point I realized that time had flown by and I missed my break. As soon as I realized that I missed my break my body hit the wall and I needed food. Stubbornness made me pass one town and move the 7 miles to the next one. It was a good choice because at this subway they were super interested in my trip. It picked up my mood and got me pumped for the last 50km.
When I got back on the bike I realized I pushed it because it was a struggle to turn the pedals over. Now the task was to find a bike shop to get a couple new tubes because I had used both of my spares up. It was just as I was thinking about this that my rear end started to bounce. Now way I thought. I was not stopping to change it because I know my patches would not hold so I rode it flat for 2 miles to the business to get a new rear tire (it was a sign from the bike gods) and new tubes. Now I was not a happy camper so when this place only had one tube and one tire I was not pumped. What got me even more frustrated was the fact the tire when I pulled it out of the box was in two pieces. Really useful.
Now I had to use my one good tube on my worn out tire. I was fully expecting it to pop right away but I had a trick up my sleeve. I ran it at super low pressure so that I was not running on the worn out tread. This robbed power but got me down the road.
I got to the next business and no tubes or tires. The bike shop after that luckily had a tire and a couple tubes so I was golden. Now you may have guessed that I was not happy and I wasn’t. I actually started to loose my mind. I was yelling at my bike to cooperate. Yelling at it to last until the rest stop then I will baby it.
With my luck I expected the tube to blow before I got to Venice but it lasted. I think. We will see in the morning. What made me even more upset was while I was literally white with salt I was craving a visit to Venice beach. Instead I am stuck here working on my bike changing tire, tube, and lubing. I guess that’s why im touring by bicycle.
Trip Distance: 190km
Ride Time: 7:30hr
Avg. Speed: 25.32km/hr (I am a monster. Thank You Skins compression wear.)
Total Distance: 12132km
Total Ride Time: 564hr
Destination: Venice, Florida
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Thats what I am running but its just luck i ran with them all through canada and had no problems here though the shoulders are just filled with trash.
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