Combining this with my old blog and have decided to run everything out of Posterous for the time being. Check it out here.

I forced myself to get on the trainer today before dinner. I really haven’t had much motivation to ride since the weather has turned cold, but talked myself into using trainer time to catch up on episodes of Chuck. Five minutes into my ride, Captain Awesome was in a scene riding his indoor bike. Well then, I guess I’m awesome too if I also ride a bike indoors.

Right.

Patch was just big enough to cover the hole on yesterday’s blown tube.

Me 1

LBS 0

Temporary delay (Taken with instagram)

I’ve been looking forward to today’s ride all week. I had expected snow, sand, and salt after a cold and windy week that culminated in a Friday low of 14F. Not only did the roads stay clean, but today’s temperatures were in a relatively balmy 25-40F range. I woke up early enough and felt great, but once again I almost bagged my ride. I was still sore from hockey the other night, and I hadn’t gone out on a ride longer than 25 miles since getting back from my Thanksgiving trip to China. Nonsense. It was time to HTFU. Besides, how much could go wrong in 50 miles? 

I considered waiting until after lunch for the warmer weather to arrive, but decided to leave at 9am to take advantage of low traffic. Despite wanting to go home at the ten mile mark, I pressed on. Like last week’s post, I found myself lacking intensity once again. I was spending most of my time on the tops and hoods, and really wasn’t pushing myself very hard. My mind started to wander. Instead of concentrating on pedaling technique and proper cadence, I began thinking about how fortunate I was to have avoided a flat in my first 1,200 miles of cycling. Flats happen to every cyclist at one point or another, and given the sub-zero temperatures, I was glad that I’ve never been forced to change a tire in the cold. POP! Right on cue.

My rear tire lost all of it’s air instantaneously and I immediately pulled over. I ran over a manhole cover and must have hit a sharp metal burr because my tire and tube were both ravaged.

Fixing the flat out in the real world was not as easy as when I practiced the procedure from the warm safety of my apartment. Cold weather plus hard rubber eventually led to me snapping one of my multitool’s tire levers. Damn. I thought I was screwed, and started to quickly run through the people I could call for a ride back home. Unfortunately, I was stuck in Wellesley and was nowhere near Boston. After more cursing, I mustered up enough Hulk-fueled strength to take my tire off with the single faux lever I had left. The entire process took me so long that four separate people actually stopped to ask if I was ok:

• A pair of road bikers who were probably a few miles behind me on the same route
• Two home owners from just beyond the sidewalk
• A friendly driver who pulled over and looked like a hardcore, bearded, old-school cycling enthusiast

Despite lucking out and getting stranded in a very affluent, safe neighborhood, I was still pretty amazed that so many people were kind enough to stop and offer to help. On the other hand, it’s pretty pathetic that it took me so long to fix everything. I need to add some NASCAR pit-stop type efficiency to my repertoire. My tire was in bad shape with the cords showing and the cut piece of rubber on the verge of falling off. I decided to fold up a dollar bill and use it as a boot to make sure I got home without getting another flat. My tube was also destroyed beyond repair. I will say that my Topeak Road Morph G was extremely clutch and got me back up to 110psi without much effort.

I was freezing and starving after my extended tire change, so rode at a much more inspired pace once I was back in action. I decided to stop by Farina’s to have them confirm my suspicions about my busted tire and tube, and had a very tasty lunch at New Ginza next door (great spot for Japanese with solid service and fair prices). Also picked up a new set of three-piece Kool Stop Tire Levers and a new tube.

I decided to take the Charles River Trail back for a nice, hassle-free trip home. I couldn’t have been any more off the mark as I also had my first encounter with a dog that darted in front of me. The dog ran into my front wheel and slammed its face into my spokes and probably caught a paw under the tire. Luckily, I was able to avoid a wipeout and went back to make sure the dog was ok. No serious injuries to either of us, and the dog’s owner was a very nice and apologetic lady who promptly slapped a leash back on him. The rest of my ride was business as usual, but man, what a day of firsts.

A fittingly eventful ride for my first post. For the first time since I bought my road bike, I really did not feel like going for a ride on a Saturday. Was it the cold? Too much to drink at last night’s holiday party? Was I still out of shape after not having ridden in two weeks? Alas, after a pep talk from the gf and realizing that this may be the last weekend before they put salt/sand on the streets, I decided to go on a short 20-miler. Today’s destination: Strip Ts in Watertown, where I left my credit card yesterday.

Getting going was tough. I was traveling at what felt like a snail’s pace and didn’t have the same drive and desire to push myself. After a few miles, I started to feel a bit too warm; however, instead of stopping, I decided to finally try to change on the bike. I was able to take off my helmet, remove my toque (beanie for you non-Canucks), take off one glove, unzip my rear jacket pocket to stuff the toque in there, and put everything back on again. Not bad huh? Riding with no hands makes me feel so pro. I was pretty tired by the time I reached Strip Ts, despite it only being ten miles away. I picked up my card, chatted with the always friendly ladies working there, and went on my way.

Luckily for me, about two miles after leaving, I had a pretty bad case of pedal strike, which rattled the bike hard enough for me to hear something fall. Once I stopped and looked behind, I realized that my patch kit and ATM card had come flying out of my saddle bag because I left it unzipped! After further inspection, I saw that my driver’s license, credit card, and $20 bill were nowhere to be found. They must have dropped out while I was riding. Uh oh. Backtracking was slow and painful, and the lady at Strip Ts must have thought I was such a fool for coming back and asking if she had seen me drop anything. Turns out I found my license and credit card, but lost the $20 bill, which was likely blown away by the wind. Oh well, crisis averted.

I’m annoyed that my average speed was so slow because of the time spent crawling along the roads looking for my stuff. Then again, I was feeling so out of it today that perhaps it wouldn’t have been much faster had I not done so. I wonder how much riding I’m really going to do this winter.