Not my day!

Miles:40 (planned miles 53)
Time: 3 hrs 10 minutes
Avg Speed: 13.5
Top Speed: 25.8

I have to say, when my husband told me he had arranged his schedule to come with me to Bikefest, I laughed. He told me that he didn't want me riding that far with him 2 hours away, just in case something happened and I needed him. (My husband is an ag teacher, with students showing cattle at the Perry, Ga national fair)

We arrive at Bikefest in Tifton. As he was airing my tires, the back tire popped. He carried my bike over to the bike mechanic to repair it. $16 later for a new tube, and labor for him to install it, I was on my way.

7 miles into my ride, the same tire, flat again! Since the rolling bike mechanic had already passed me a few miles back, my only option was to call Floyd. He came to my rescue with the air pump. As he pumped the tire, he discovered the tube was bad. I called the BRAG headquarters, and I could either wait for someone to come get me, or have Floyd drive me 10 miles down the road to the first rest stop where the bike mechanic was.

Bless his heart, he loads it up and off we go. When we got to the mechanic, he discovered a staple in my back tire. Being the great guy he was, he replaced the tube and did not charge me! Yay!

I've been cycling for 4 years now, and I have NEVER had these kind of issues!

I decided to resume the bike ride from the rest stop, to the 2nd rest stop in Sycamore, Ga, which is about 17 miles away. I was aware of the first hill, but since I haven't traveled that road in years, I had totally forgot how hilly that road was! I thought I was going to die! Apparently there were a lot of others who thought the same, since they were all on the side of the road. Floyd was waiting for me at the 2nd rest stop, where I got off the bike & walked around while he replenished fluids on my bike and checked my bike chain since it fell off between rest stops (due to switching between the chain rings) and I had to put it back on. (I am technically challenged!)

The ride back in wasn't bad. I met up with a few people from Atlanta, and they complained about the headwind. I laughed, and told them the headwind was nothing compared to those freakin hills!

When I arrived back to the Tifton Recreation Center, Floyd was waiting to grab my bike & load it for me. He wanted to go have lunch at Golden Corral, and even though I really wanted to go home, that was the least I could do for him.

As we were walking in the restaurant, he said "I'm proud of you, you trained hard and you had a great ride...oh and by the way, you could've road the 53 miles...easy"...

Lessons learned: I will learn to change a flat tire and I will practice riding hills!