Let me start by saying that I haven’t ridden my bike in 2 weeks. I’ve been busy, I haven’t been home on the weekends, and the weather has been less than ideal for biking. Alright, now you’ve heard all my lame excuses. Honestly, I have been busy, but that is not a good enough excuse to skip training rides. In my defense, I have been to the gym a number of times, so hopefully that counts for something.
My plan today was to ride 30 miles (even though the “FitCorp” training program states that I should be doing a 70 mile ride this week – eek!). I got home from work and immediately turned on the tunes to get pumped up for my ride. I mapped out a route and was totally motivated and ready to go!
The first few miles felt great – I was riding at a good pace and enjoying every minute of it. About 30 minutes into my ride, I started to ascend a large and steep hill. It was a narrow road and cars were flying by, but I was pushing through it. At this point, “Pump It” by the Black Eyes Peas was playing on my iPod (don’t worry the volume was low so I could hear oncoming cars) and I was literally 20 yards from the top of the hill. All of a sudden, I began to lose speed for no reason and something just didn’t feel right. I decided that I should stop to see if my bike was okay, so I pulled into a Dentist office parking lot right next to me and noticed that I had a FLAT TIRE!
Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal at all. Avid bikers know that you should always carry a spare tire with you – and the PMC informed us of this at the orientation back in May. Apparently I didn’t think that this rule applied to me. I did listen to some of the other PMC tips though – because I brought my cell phone. If I hadn’t, I would have had to walk 6 miles back to my house with a bike on my back! It was either that or sleep on the side of the road for the night.
Thankfully, one of my best friends and roommate, Emma, works 10 minutes from where I was stranded and came to my rescue. Phew!! Needless to say, I have learned my lesson. I am dissapointed in myself because I didn’t prepare for a situation that I knew could happen. I will be paying a visit to Wheel Works tomorrow to fix the tire and purchase spares (yes, numerous ones!).
On a side note – there’s only 2 days left until the Team NECN fundraising party at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston. There’s going to be delicious Blue Ribbon BBQ, yummy drinks, and fabulous auction items! Not to mention, the weather will finally feel more like summer – so I’m sure we’ll be putting the outdoor patio to good use. Tickets will be available at the door, but we prefer that you purchase them online ahead of time (click the information on the right hand side of the screen).
Hope you see you there!! 
-Danielle
Countdown to PMC: 39 days!
