When life gives you lemons......

Last night's bike was a bit interesting. We made it 1.12 miles.

Before we were even 1/2 a mile away from work, I rolled over a small crack in the road and heard a wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh...... with every wheel revolution.

A quick check revealed a slice through the tire and tube that was still gushing air. It was soon totally flat, so we stopped, replaced the tube, pumped it up a little with the mini-pump I was carrying (the frame pumps don't fit on the race bikes), then headed back to work where I had a floor pump at my desk. Through this process we realized that the valve on the tube was shot, so when the pump was removed we had to make a mad dash to get the valve closed to keep the air in.

At work we changed the tube, again, to get one with a functioning valve, but then realized that the floor pump was not functioning correctly, so we rode down to E's work and used the floor pump in their entry way (a lot of folks bike to work there, so someone has just left a pump where everyone parks their bikes).

OK. Set. Ready to roll.

We head out again, with an eye to the ever darkening sky and threatening thunder clouds, but before we even roll past the driveway for my work, I hit another crack and hear wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh, wooOOOoosh.... all over again (there was a small slit all the way through the tire and we were too worried about the weather and how late it was getting to bother fixing it correctly, with a dollar bill, scrap of paper, bar wrapper, etc.).

So now I was flat and had no more tubes. We headed for the car and decided to drive home and try the ride this morning before work, though slightly abbreviated due to morning meetings for E.

Today, we had a glorious ride. Got the pacing in. Did the pacing sets correctly. Rode hard, but not too hard. Enjoyed the fog (looks more like a "Lake Superior" day in Duluth than anything we normally see in Boulder!).

This kind of change was not exactly what I wanted (or was able to mentally handle) this close to taper and Ironman, but we made it work, and haven't jeopardized our last "big" day before taper in the least. For some reason, though, last night it was a BIG DEAL to have to alter the plan. All worked out in the end, though!

On a separate note, I just got an email informing me of my remaining $3xx dividend at REI. Hmmmm, to cash it out or go shopping? They are also offering 20% off 1 item at their outlet store..... What to do?

-A

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