Flat Tire Saga

Today was a very long day. We had a slightly-longer-than-average distance paired with a slightly-higher-than-average elevation gain compounded by a mechanical problem that took a long time to resolve.

I always ride in front of Mike. We only have one set of paper maps, and I have them on my handlebar so I ride first and do the navigation. Today we were off-route, following the second-hand advice from a pastor in Meadowview to take Route 11 to Wytheville. As a result, both Mike and I had the directions available on our phones. At one point I said to him “I’m feeling really slow. You can pass me if you want.” As soon as he passed me I realized I had a flat tire (which is probably why I was feeling slow). I called out to him to let him know but he didn’t hear me. I waved my arm frantically hoping he would see me in his rear view mirror but he didn’t. I pulled over and stopped and texted him and saw him not look at his phone and then go over the crest of a hill. With the tools, spare tubes, and know how. Great.

I just hung out for a bit, texting and calling him even though I knew the ringer on his phone was off until he eventually pulled over to wait for me and saw my messages. He then had to ride (uphill) back to me.

He discovered the flat tire was the result of a puncture from something that looked like a piece of a staple. He removed it from the tire and put in a new tube. That tube would not inflate. So he took it out and found a hole in it. Maybe it was just a bad tube or maybe he pinched it while putting the tire back on. He then patched that tube and put it back in. It would not inflate. Cool cool cool. So then he put in a tube he patched back in Pueblo, Colorado. We were all out of new tubes so thankfully that one worked. But the whole ordeal took roughly 100 minutes. Far too long on an already long day.

We started biking at 0745 this morning and didn’t get to the hotel until 1715 this afternoon. A very long day.

Highlights

• after the flat tire saga, we treated ourselves to lunch and a mid-afternoon beer in Marion.
• I briefly raced a train. The train tracks were right next to the road and I was lined up with the front of the train, so I decided to race it. We were honestly neck and neck for a while until I came to a slight uphill and then the train won.
• I saw an emu! Behind a fence (are there emu farms?!) right next to the road. What a weird creature.
• We had one long climb this morning but Mike and I both felt really good during it. We felt very strong.
• While we were stopped forever working on the flat tire, a nice old man in a pickup truck stopped and offered to drive us to a bike store. What a gem.

Lowlights

• flat tire saga
• I was chased by a few dogs today. None of them seemed particularly menacing but I am very disappointed in Virginia nonetheless.

Julie’s food

• Breakfast: Amy’s tofu scramble
• First Snack: Clif bar
• Second Snack: Clif bar
• Lunch: veggie panini and fries
• Third Snack: chips and guac
• Dinner: rice and beans

Stats

• Total distance: 69.93 miles
• Elevation gain: 5,234 feet
• Weather: dry, high of 69 degrees Fahrenheit