Sometimes there are signs and messages throughout the day that just tell you that a certain ride just isn't meant to be. Today that sign poked its head up at the first stop we made to refill water bottles (mile 34). Toby spilled water everywhere while trying to fill his aero-bottle (very graceful) and some of that water hit his front tire. We laughed and then Toby noticed that there were bubbles coming out of the top of his front tire. We took a look at it and figured that there wasn't a whole lot we could do if his tire had a hole in it.



The tube seemed to be ok, so we disregarded it and everything was good to go. We got to mile 53 moving right along when Toby asked me to take a look at his rear tire. It was flat. We stopped and Toby took apart the rear wheel, removed the tube and inserted the new tube he had, got it all set and then cracked open the CO2 on the tube only for the CO2 to start spraying everywhere uncontrollably. One CO2 canister down. I pulled out the one CO2 canister I had and we quickly realized that the CO2 wasn't the problem, it was the presta valve on the tube Toby had. The tube did not have an extended valve. This meant that we couldn't fully get the CO2 onto the valve.




SO I pulled out the extra tube that I had and went through the whole process again, this time getting a little worried as we only had one canister of CO2 left and we were out in the middle of nowhere probably a good 30 minute drive from anyone we knew. Got the tube in, crossed our fingers and the CO2 worked like a charm. We were good to go. Toby re-attached his rear wheel and we were off. We rode for another 10 miles and Toby noticed that his front tire (the one we originally saw bubbles coming out of) was really low on air. We decided to ride up to the freeway (2 miles or so) and pull out the iPhone to find a bike shop near by. We found 5 shops within 10 miles of where we were and not one of them was open. At this point, we started to brainstorm as to who would come and pick us up since we were in Escondido. While we were sitting out front of a Starbucks thinking, a guy rode up on his bike and he had a pump with him. Toby asked if we could use his pump and he was more than happy to let us use it. Toby figured that if we could patch the front tube, we would be able to ride to Solana Beach (20 miles) and get to B & L to buy a new tube. So again Toby removed his wheel and tube (he was a pro by this point) and we pumped the tube up and then tried to locate the hole.




After sleuthing around for a bit, Toby found it. We pulled out the patch kit, followed the directions (Sandpaper to the hole, apply liquid glue, apply patch) and then put the tube back in the tire and began pumping it up. It took a while before it felt like it had enough pressure. I was pumping when Toby decided it felt good. I unlocked the pump and popped it off the presta valve and when I did this, I don't know exactly what happened or how it happened, but the head of the valve was gone when I pulled the pump off and the tire immediately deflated. I searched the head of the pump and the valve head was nowhere to be found. At this point Toby and I both realized that sometimes it just isn't meant to be. Toby made a call to his roommate and we got a ride back to his place (after a delicious In-N-Out burger for lunch). I rode back to my house from Toby's and my mileage for the day was just under 75 miles.

All in all, there is a lot that I take away from today's ride. I got a solid 5+ hours of riding in, which is a first for me and I surprisingly felt very comfortable doing so. I also took a lot away as far as nutrition is concerned. The sustained energy definitely made a difference...a huge difference from the last long ride I did. I was religious about drinking every 15 minutes from my sustained energy and I decided to have a GU every hour. This worked out really well and its hard to say exactly how the rest of the ride would have played out, but I think that this was a really solid method and I think I would have made it through the rest of the ride feeling pretty good all things considered.

The climbing during this ride was pretty intense as there was a lot of it. The climbing section up to and through Highway 67 was tough as it was so long, but it was awesome getting to the top of the summit there. It was an absolutely beautiful ride as well, which really made for an enjoyable experience. Next week I am going to try and get some light running in, still focusing on swimming and biking. I think its important that I let my foot get fully recovered before I start laying down some big runs. Light running this week and building on it from there. I hope everyone had a great weekend!