Hard Day

Phew, what a hard day today. I set out on my bike this morning not knowing what the morning had in store. A few kilometers into my commute, my tire was low on pressure so I pumped it up thinking it was the change in temperature / pressure that caused it. A few kilometers later, flat again. So I took a moment by the side of the road to rejoice in my foresight and resourcefulness as I changed my tube with the spare one I usually carry. I was golden, crisis averted, I was only 15 minutes late.

Or so I thought. Around Island Park, I start getting deflated again, so I pump some more. At Tunney's pasture, I realized the obvious, the backup tube was punctured. I thought I was still golden, after all, I carry a repair kit in addition to my spare, so it's no problem. However it turned out to be trouble... Either my repair kit is past it's best before date or these things don't work so well in cold weather. I was stranded about 5km from work. So I decided to continue on foot, dragging the bike with me carefully to avoid damaging the wheel. I got to work 2 hours later than usual. Oups. Good thing I didn't have any meetings in the morning. I made up one of the hours already and will make up the other one tomorrow.

So at lunch, I went to a bike shop near work to get a new tube to ensure a safe trip home. On my way home, I swung by my favorite friendly bike store where I got not only another spare tube but also a spare tire, since I think that the cause of these multiple incidents is the age of my tire.

It was quite the long way home at 38km. I feel spent today. It's a good spent. Kind of a joyful peaceful exhaustion. The exact thing that this endorphinbuzzer is seeking when attempting these crazy adventures such as biking 250km a week or running continuously for so many hours. The diagnostic on the second blowout is that either the backup tube was too old and dry or that I failed in its installation since the rupture is underneath and not from anything I may have rolled over.

So many things in the mix it's not even funny: Liquid, Farenheit Project 4, Saafi Brothers - Midnight Children, Magnetic Blue (disc 2).