Nails

I managed to squeeze a quick one hour ride in on Friday. I rode to my favorite bike shop in American Fork, Bike Peddler. Parrish set me up with a new tire to replace the one with a big slice in it. Probably sliced it dodging nails in downtown Provo. I was supposed to be riding endurance, but I was running late, like always, so I pushed it a bit harder than I should have. But, I was glad I got out for a ride. I feel much better because I did.

Today I headed out to meet a group for a two-hour ride. On my way there I ran over a big, fat nail. It went right through the sidewall of my brand new tire.



Since the tire was now junk and I wasn't carrying a spare, I called Sling and told him I needed my race tire. He pumped it up and brought it to me while I froze on the side of the road. For some reason, I broke down in what must have been the coldest part of town. When he got there, that tire had gone flat, too! I started to think something was telling me I shouldn't be riding today. I loaded my bike into the trunk and got in the car. We drove over to see if my group was still waiting for me. Luckily, they were still there and were willing to wait while I got the tubes and tires switched out so I could ride. It felt much warmer, and it was only a couple miles from where I had my flat. Go figure!

As we took off to go do the Telos Turkey Tri route, I mentioned that I wasn't quite sure of the route. I kind of figured that we would all stick together and take the first loop as a warm up. Phil had other ideas. He took off like a bullet with me chasing as hard as I could because I didn't know where I was going. We dropped the rest of the group before we'd gone two blocks. Pretty soon, I got tired of chasing him. I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be in zone 5, so it wasn't worth it. After the first loop, I knew my way around anyway.

After working the tri route over, I said goodbye to my group. They were all going to swim. I still had about an hour and a half to ride. So I headed out west to the lake, then out to American Fork. I was surprised to find that there was a brand new bike path out by the lake. Last time I was out there, probably less than two months ago, there wasn't one. I was tempted to go ride on it. It looked a lot smoother than the road I was on. But I didn't want to waste time hiking through the tundra to get to it. I was still quite cold and just wanted to get back home.

28ish miles (not sure...I messed my computer up pushing buttons)
1 hour 50 min
Interesting birds I spotted while riding: Red-tail hawk, chikadees, Northern Flicker
I usually see pelicans when I ride by the lake, but they weren't there today.

I finally made contact with the swimmer on my relay team for the tri. We've been leaving messages for each other for the last week. Now, if I could just get a hold of that runner. He disappeared about a month ago, and I don't know how to reach him. I may need to find a new runner. And the tri is only a week away! I think I like stress in my life.

Well, I'm off to Bike Peddler to see (beg) if they'll warranty my tire.