Red Rock Bike Ride

So, first real bike ride of the season was yesterday at Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas. Beautiful day for a ride, going with my friend. He had blown a tube while pumping his tire up, so I gave him my tube. My only extra tube. My only tube that I carry in my pack on my back for when I need a tube, tube. My only tube that is wonderful to have so you don't have to try and patch a flat on the side of the road, tube. You get the idea...

So we start the ride.

Less than 20 seconds into the ride, my "friend" realizes he forgot his gloves, so he wants to go back to the truck. As I start turning around to go back, I hit some gravel, and eat it. I was going about 3 miles an hour at the time, so the only thing really hurt, besides a few scratches and bruises on my left leg, was my manly pride. Which in reality, when you're mounting up for a road bike ride, in tight spandex and a geeky helmet, is already extremely fragile.

I recovered nicely from the spill, using a few choice words to help mend my broken ego (not to mention almost broken iPod), and the ride was back heading in the "right" direction.

Unfortunately that "right" direction was uphill and into the wind. Nice...

Now I'm huffing and puffing up this hill, in my spandex and geeky helmet, and wondering "why do I do this to myself?"

Finally, the legs get going, my butt starts to go numb (a good thing given the sliver that I call a seat) and I'm feeling pretty good. We ride to our turn around spot, 10.77 miles away.

side note - If we had turned right at our "turn around" spot, and driven about 20 miles, we would have been in Pahrump, NV, home of legalized prositution...

So we take a minute, take a drink, and start off again. I'm having a little bit of hard time clipping into my shoes clips, so my friend is a ways ahead of me. At approximately 11.47 miles, I feel an awkward feeling in my rear tire. Besides it being flat, I'm feeling something bumping every rotation. It's only an inch and a half long nail, all the way through my tire and tube...

Now, those of you paying attention, will remember, I no longer have an extra tube...

So, again, after helping my situation greatly by expressing my displeasure with a few choice words, I start walking... Without any pride/ego/manliness. Cause besides my spandex and geeky helmet, now I'm walking beside my bike, in the middle of nowhere. Anyone familiar with biking shoes knows, walking is not a normal looking event when wearing clips on the balls of your feet. Awkward...

And to make things worse, my "friend" (notice the use of the " ") didn't notice my absence behind him for several miles/minutes, only focusing on the road and the Coldplay playing from his new Shuffle.

After what seems like a leap year, my "acquaintence" (notice the use of the word 'acquaintence') returned, with MY tube serving to keep some distance between he and the road. Upon learning of my dilemna, this "person" (notice my use of angry words) took off to go get the truck, leaving me to sit on the side of the road, in my spandex.

At least I got to take off my geeky helmet while waiting for his return.

But, my pride, like my tire, was flat...