A tale of a crappy ride.
Decided to do my first road ride now that I'm in Colorado, just to see how out of shape I am (and because my 575 is currently mauled and not rideable). I was planning on riding the 25 miles to Golden, just for kicks. Given that I had no idea where I was going I was following the direction from Google maps, as they highlight all of the bike trails.
About a mile in, the map told me to take a dirt bike path. The path is about 12 feet wide and smooth, so I figured there was no issue. It was headed in the direction I wanted to go, so I kept going. Then after about another 3 miles, I noticed that it was very slowly changing direction and realized I was about 2 miles south of the bike trail I wanted to be on.
A lady walking on the trail was nice enough to tell me where I was and that I could cut across the dam (I was riding around a lake) to my target trail. She said that I needed to look for the path to the left where everybody crosses the railroad tracks. I started riding back and while looking to the left for the trail, I didn't see the 4" log laid across part of the path. After nearly going otb at speed, thank the FSM for mtb reaction skills, I found the path I wanted.
I crossed the tracks and about 100yds in, the back got loose and I realized I had a flat. I changed the tube and confirmed what I expected, which was a snakebite. While pumping the tube, it started hissing badly.When I took the pump off, the valve stem decided to eject itself into my glasses. Once again, thank the FSM that I had my glasses on.
At this point, I had gone through two tubes and was 5 miles from both home and the nearest shop. Wifey is still in California and I don't know anybody that lives near there, so I decided to just start walking back. I got about 100yds when I realized that walking home in my roadie shoes would make tomorrow miserable. I decided to clip my shoes in and walk in my socks back to the house. Thankfully I have been training in barefoot shoes, because I was able to run the first 2 miles in just my socks. That was about the same time that all of the air in the front leaked out too. Given that I could do nothing about it, I just kept going. Unfortunately the remaining three miles were on gravel path and pavement, so I was stuck walking. It took me about 1.5 hours to get back and my nice smartwool socks are now in the trash with massive holes. I also have massive blisters on the balls of both feet.
Summary: I got lost, almost went otb, three flats, had to walk 5 miles home while barefoot, trashed my smartwool socks, and have massive blisters on my feet. It sucked. I now have two of my two bikes that are too busted to ride. Yeah...
/rant
Decided to do my first road ride now that I'm in Colorado, just to see how out of shape I am (and because my 575 is currently mauled and not rideable). I was planning on riding the 25 miles to Golden, just for kicks. Given that I had no idea where I was going I was following the direction from Google maps, as they highlight all of the bike trails.
About a mile in, the map told me to take a dirt bike path. The path is about 12 feet wide and smooth, so I figured there was no issue. It was headed in the direction I wanted to go, so I kept going. Then after about another 3 miles, I noticed that it was very slowly changing direction and realized I was about 2 miles south of the bike trail I wanted to be on.
A lady walking on the trail was nice enough to tell me where I was and that I could cut across the dam (I was riding around a lake) to my target trail. She said that I needed to look for the path to the left where everybody crosses the railroad tracks. I started riding back and while looking to the left for the trail, I didn't see the 4" log laid across part of the path. After nearly going otb at speed, thank the FSM for mtb reaction skills, I found the path I wanted.
I crossed the tracks and about 100yds in, the back got loose and I realized I had a flat. I changed the tube and confirmed what I expected, which was a snakebite. While pumping the tube, it started hissing badly.When I took the pump off, the valve stem decided to eject itself into my glasses. Once again, thank the FSM that I had my glasses on.
At this point, I had gone through two tubes and was 5 miles from both home and the nearest shop. Wifey is still in California and I don't know anybody that lives near there, so I decided to just start walking back. I got about 100yds when I realized that walking home in my roadie shoes would make tomorrow miserable. I decided to clip my shoes in and walk in my socks back to the house. Thankfully I have been training in barefoot shoes, because I was able to run the first 2 miles in just my socks. That was about the same time that all of the air in the front leaked out too. Given that I could do nothing about it, I just kept going. Unfortunately the remaining three miles were on gravel path and pavement, so I was stuck walking. It took me about 1.5 hours to get back and my nice smartwool socks are now in the trash with massive holes. I also have massive blisters on the balls of both feet.
Summary: I got lost, almost went otb, three flats, had to walk 5 miles home while barefoot, trashed my smartwool socks, and have massive blisters on my feet. It sucked. I now have two of my two bikes that are too busted to ride. Yeah...
/rant
