Thwarted!

After a nice ride to St. Paul yesterday, I met up with Keisha, Alicia, and Kim this morning for a ride along the Gateway Trail, which I'd read had been cleared of all snow. There were a few icy splotches under bridges, as we expected, but on this warm sunny day we were totally perplexed when we ran into a deep, snow-turned-ice field for as long as the eye could see. 

We were coveting the horses that passed us by. (With humans on top of them.)

Photo courtesy of Keisha

Because it was still early in the ride, we decided to take the dirt road that runs parallel to the trail to see if the trail was cleared further down. We hadn't ridden too far when Alicia realized her back tire was rather squishy and soft.

We pulled over to change her flat rear tire. Of course it was the rear tire. We learned that Alicia's rack must come off her bike to get her rear wheel off. Who knew?! The value of running your finger along the inside of the tire when you can't see an obvious source of the flat (and no snakebitey pinch flat markers on the dead tube) was reinforced by our success today. 

Although it looked just like a little nick on the outside, there was a sharp thorn poking through. We couldn't get it removed but broke it off, covered it with a patch, and hoped it worked. We then realized I do not know how to use a CO2 cartridge. We then realized that I was trying to use a hand pump without having opened the valve on the tube to let the air in. Once we got THAT sorted out, it all worked out great! What a day of re-learning! 

Alicia and I made a deal; she could have
my spare tube in exchange for a cup of coffee.

When I was putting Alicia's tire back on
the rim, Keisha made me bust out loud
laughing. Alicia thought it looked like
a good stretch. It was, but it being
caused by laughter was even better.

A lot of chatting, a lot of laughs, a lot of delays; not many miles. But that's okay, especially for ride #3 of 2020. 

It also reminded me that I should check the tires on both my bikes to see what sort of state they are in after last year, since they weren't used all winter. I generally hate changing flats but today was a great day for it - not cold, not hot, no bugs, nowhere to be, a tire that slipped relatively effortlessly on the rim. 

Today is the first day of MS Awareness Week 2020. I am very grateful that I was able to be outside, moving effortlessly in the sunshine. I am confident that our fundraising efforts will someday stop MS from keeping others from doing the same. http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo