Firestarter

aka “Easy Killer”

Given all the wind and rain from the last few days, the roads were not very welcoming to bikes. So when David suggested MTB I was sold. We had our share of downed trees that we had to either clean up or climb over.

Here was our largest and most complete tree clean-up. Bummer that we didn’t have the before photo. Bigger bummer that a biker passed us as we were cleaning it up and said nothing.

At the top of Grand Ridge, David turned back and I pedaled on. Shortly after, at a point in the ride when I was probably furthest from any road, I had a good-sized puncture in my front tire. It was too big for the sealant to fix. So this was my first opportunity to try out my tire plugs.

I timed the entire procedure, and in the end it took me exactly: “too long” 😮. It took two tries. The first one I managed to push the entire plug through the hole. Woops. Second time I nailed it.

A work of art.

It was amazingly satisfying to hear a loud hiss completely silenced in a matter of seconds. I sat there staring at it for, again, “too long.” I was feeling totally like this:

Eventually my head shrunk enough to not tip over the bike. I saddled up and pedaled on … proudly 🙂.


309: Pre-dawn Push-off; Putt-putt Pace; Plug Proven; Proud Pedaler | Ride | Strava