Tire Trouble

     So here is the details from my ride Friday morning.  It is seemingly uneventful.  A lollipop route from my house with a fairly standard amount of elevation gain in and around the Charlottesville area.  I got passed by a young guy just past Monticello.  I tried to hang with him for a bit, but these old legs are no match for a wiley youngster.  He opted for the rest of Carters Mtn. Road while I slid off onto a newly paved Rolling Hill Rd., nice.




     What you can't see is the 2 miles I rode/walked up on the Blue Ridge Parkway earlier that morning.  I had dropped the kiddies off at school around 7:40a and was headed up to the parkway to do a loop from the parkway out to Reeds Gap, down to Waynesboro, then climb back up via Rt. 250 to the car. 

I was greeted by a very nice sunrise on the horizon looking east.

     I hopped on my bike and headed south on the parkway.  The first mile is a gradual climb with some flat in the beginning.  At about 0.8 miles it starts to pitch up a bit.  I had just passed the 1 mile marker when I heard a loud pop and a woosh of air ran up my leg.  Lesson learned.  make sure to check your tires before you head out.  If this had just have been a tube I could have easily continued on, but looking down I had a bout a 3/4 gash in my tire going all the way through.  I can only guess that this gash was from a previous ride.  I rode the bike for a bit in the grass so I wouldn't bend or mess up the rim, but ended up walking the rest of the mile back.  I was passed by 5-6 passenger cars and 2 maintenance trucks on my walk back, none of which stopped to see if I needed any help or a ride.  I guess thats the day and age we live in.  I must have looked like a fairly dangerous biker is all I can figure.

   Nevermind the Giro d' Italia bike race this week, check out the Tour of California as local rider Ben King rides for the Radio Shack team.