It's as easy as riding a bike!

Whoever said riding a bike is easy, clearly wasn't talking about me or my bike...actually, riding a bike isn't the problem, it's the things that can happen while riding a bike that seem to be a problem...

On Saturday there wasn't a scheduled coached workout, but our training schedule called for a leisurely 60 min bike ride on your own...so I drove to Brentwood and went riding with my cousin-in-law (Jimmy's cousin Christina) and her boyfriend -- since I'm a beginner, I don't like to do things alone -- which was a good thing for this bike ride! I got there at 10am and figured we would ride until about lunchtime. We took off on a trail in Brentwood towards Antioch -- it was a beautiful, crisp California morning...and everything was going well, until we hit mile 4...

As we were riding, chatting, and enjoying the beautiful morning on our bikes, all of the sudden, I hear this awkward noise coming from the front of my bike and as I look down, I yell, "Oh @#$! I've got a flat!" So, in the middle of a trail, somewhere in Brentwood, we all stopped (well, I was half stopped already thanks to the flat tire) and got off our bikes to assess the damage...and yup, it was a flat tire alright...can someone call triple A?

At this point, in my mind I was trying to remember the steps to change a flat tire that we were briefly taught at our workout last Saturday...but you never really remember everything until you actually have to -- and at this critical time, for me, a beginner, my mind was trying to remember everything...On my bike, I had a little pouch that carried all the necessary items to change a flat...extra tube, CO2 cartridge, tire levers...the challenge: remembering what tool was used for what and how to use it.

First, I knew I had to take the wheel/tire off -- so using the tire levers, I propped the damaged tube off -- it took some time, and some help from my Pit Crew (Bubba) -- yes, that's right, my own Pit Crew and photographer -- I train with an entourage! But I was able to get the damaged tube off, and we found the culprit of this disaster -- 2 goatheads stuck in the tire.


With the damaged tube off, I put the new tube on...

Then it was time to fill the tire with air...I had a fancy little CO2 cartridge holder, so fancy that it took us 10 mins to figure out how to use the thing! After we filled it with air, we realized that half the tire was full of air, and the other half, barely had any air in it, and the tire looked a bit lopsided...clearly, we were doing something wrong...My Pit Crew thought that maybe the tube was twisted and, at that point, we knew we were screwed because I only had one new tube (which was now twisted or pinched) and not a lot of CO2 left...so the only option we had left: call for help. Bubba called his niece who was staying at his house (his house was, well, 4 miles away -- we started the ride from his house) and asked her to pick us up. The road was just about a quarter mile from the trail, and the plan was to take my bike to a nearby bike shop, Brentwood Bike Co. So we walked to the road, my tire in one hand and bike in the other...


When his niece got there, we loaded our bikes on the back of his truck and headed over to the bike shop. When the bike guy looked at the tire, the first thing he asked, "did you blow some air in the tube first before fitting it on the wheel?" Huh? I must have zoned out on that part during the demonstration at last week's training...So I learned that blowing some air into the tube helps give the tube some shape and ensures that the tube isn't getting pinched anywhere (which would cause it to not inflate properly)...yeah, it all seems very logical now...so the bike guy deflates the tire and makes sure that the tube isn't twisted or pinched anywhere and fills it up with air...ah, much better! I put the wheel back on my back and, viola -- it's like nothing ever happened! And it only took us 45 mins and a trip to the local bike shop to fix it!

Since we only rode for 4 miles before the incident, we decided to ride for another 30-45mins. As Bubba was taking his bike and Christina's bike off of the truck, he noticed Christina's bike had a flat too! And the same culprit, those nasty goatheads. Luckily we were still at the bike shop and she was able to get her flat fixed within minutes...With everyone's bike repaired and ready to go
we were then finally ready to ride off into the afternoon California sun...so much for a 60 min, leisurely bike ride!

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AHA! Moment #2: When changing a flat tire on your bike, remember to blow some air in the new tube so that it takes shape, making it a lot easier to fit the tube around the wheel and helps to avoid the tube from getting twisted/pinched -- DUH, I mean, AHA!