Ruby Tuesday

Today I had the opportunity to go to Ruby Tuesday for a nice lunch with the other ladies at work (Kelly, Jennifer, Tanya, Delana, Lisa, and Amy). We don't go out very often, and we rarely go with the entire group since Amy's usually in Florida. We used her being here as an excuse to enjoy lunch and all ate some good salads!

Throughout the day, I tried to get through my 5 minutes of work. I succeeded OK, but my legs did not want to cooperate for the wall squat. That's abnormal, since I usually have no trouble getting through that one (I mean, it's hard, but I know I can do it and usually do).

• Push up: 7:30
• Wall squat: 9 (made it 1:45), 10 (made it 2:15), and 3 (made it 2:30 but continued up and down through 5)
• Standing ham: 11:30 (outside in the shade—it was amazing!)
• Lunge (after bike ride)
• Scap pull up (after lunge)

I got out on my bike and rode the following route:

Today's route. The Hazard icon is there for a reason...

It was a great ride, significantly faster than yesterday and definitely enjoyable. 1:19:20, 24.57 miles, 18.6 average (28.7 max), 1,457 cal, 151 HR (177 max). Everything was fabulous, totally uneventful, until I hit Mack Hatcher. First, from the corner of Mack Hatcher and Hillsboro, I could see that there had been an accident and noticed a truck in the ditch (the police were there and the traffic was terrible). I was grateful that I'd not ridden that way out. Then, about half a mile up the road, I heard a sound no cyclist likes to hear: air escaping from the tire—my first flat tire in at least 4 months, probably longer. I looked down and, though I could still hear the air, couldn't tell by sight which tire it was (I knew it was the rear one from the sound). I rode for a few more seconds, then stopped to change it.

From the time I stopped until the time I was back on my bike, new tube and all, it took 9 minutes. I was hoping for around 5 but didn't mind the extra 4 minutes. It took that much longer because a nice man, Jim, stopped to make sure I was OK. He got out of his car and was standing around watching and chatting, and I was grateful that he stopped to check on me. He said one he got a flat, no one stopped, and he had to carry his bike back while wearing his biking shoes. Not fun, and he didn't want to same thing to happen to me. I'm thankful that didn't happen and that I was able to make it the 4+ miles back home with no problems.

Flat tire. Joy.

When I got back home, I tried to see how much air I actually had in the tire. CO₂ cartridges don't have air gauges, and I am nervous about inflating it too much that it pops, so I never use even one entire cartridge. When I stuck the pump on the valve, I let out all the air. Evidently tubes with little valves do not work with my wheels and pump. So now I have a flat tire again and no way to pump up a perfectly good tube. Time to get more tubes!