2022 mileage: 2188.4
After an unusual couple of consecutive days off, I was eager to get back to it today. Yesterday afternoon, while discussing my riding with my daughter, I said that I planned to ride in the evening. When she suggested that it would be OK for me to take the day off, I told her (over) confidently, "Oh, I'll definitely ride. It just depends on how far I go—either my 20-mile round trip to Baker Rd., which I'd like to, or my route of almost 14 miles, closer to home." In the end, though, I was tired and lazy, and caved in and didn't ride at all.
I set off this morning in 61° cloudy conditions, at 9:30, and not very far at all into the ride, I was puzzled as to why my ride was so slow. I pressed on, though, and shortly after taking this picture, when I reached the point where I was almost halfway through that ride I intended to do, I could see that my left front wheel was very low in air. So I stopped, hopped off, and dug my small portable pump out of my bag, I pumped it up the best I could, and though I knew it wasn't as firm as it should be, I believed it was OK to get me home.
While pumping the tire up, an example of what Michelle calls my "angels" stopped by, when a lady driving on Platt Rd. stopped and asked me if I needed help. At that point, I remained confident that I'd be OK, so I thanked her, but waved her off. A couple of minutes later, though, my opinion had changed. I capped the tire back up and began riding, but within a couple of minutes an older man driving a Rav stopped and asked me if I needed any help. I told him, "No, but thanks." He noted, "I just wondered, since your tire is flat." I looked, and sure enough, he was right. So I hustled and caught up to him, and said, "Actually, thanks. Could you give me a ride home?" He asked, "Where do you live?" I showed him my explanatory card (as to why I can't speak clearly) and then pointed and said, "About 5 miles."
He said, "I'm not sure if your bike will fit in my car." But we tried it, and, sure enough, it did fit in. Soon thereafter he was dropping me off at my home. When I got the trike in the garage, I used my good pump to air up the tire; but I thought (though I was not positive) that I could hear a slow leak, indicating that the tube is damaged, and I'll need to change it before I ride next.
He commented on how far I was from home, so during the drive I typed out a note on my phone indicating that I rode just over 6000 miles last year, and was over 2800 so far this year. He was suitably impressed. 😀
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