Ill-fated bicycle ride

After having a good bike ride recently I decided I’d try for another one yesterday instead of going to the gym. It wasn’t extreme heat yesterday but it was hot and I left home just after 4:30 pm with hopes it would be cooling off soon. The first thing I noticed was the ride wasn’t as easy as the last time. But I pushed on and lowered gears to make things easier. Things were going okay for a while but then the heat started to get to me and instead of continuing to my usual turnaround place, I took a short break to drink some water and stopped once more along the way. I was mostly feeling okay but as I approached the ramp onto the overpass, I realised it was going to be a huge struggle to reach the top. It just happens the path has an offshoot that goes under the bridge so I headed that way to find a stopping place in the shade. One thing I didn’t know is part of that path now shows a sign not to enter as though moving onto a one-way street. Except this was the pathway. I continued anyway because I was desperate to get out of the sun for a while. I did find a small shady area and stopped. I finished my first bottle of water and sat on the path where there were fewer ants around. When my heart rate finally returned to some normality, I started off again.

This is where things got rather tricky. I didn’t have the energy to ride very fast so I kept to as slow a pace as possible. But then I noticed my back tire wasn’t feeling right and it soon became clear the air I’d pumped it up with had gone out and I was riding on the rim of the wheel. I pumped it up and it was wobbly for a while before deflating again. This was a terrible place to be stranded as there was no access to the path for several kilometers. I got off and walked the bike for a long while and then called the Scientist. It took a while for me to communicate where I was. It was noisy from the highway next to me and my pronunciation may not have been clear to him. We finally connected and it was clearer where I was headed. There is one street that crosses with the highway and intersects with the bike pathway so that was my target for us both. I carried on walking my bike and got there about ten minutes later. Part of the pathway was shaded there so I got off and waited. I was nearly finished with my second water bottle at this point.

I knew my bike wasn’t going to fit in the car so my plan had been to lock up my bike near my location with intentions of returning the next day. The Scientist, however, was too concerned it would be stolen and decided he would walk the bike home. I was about 4.5 km from home via the bike path at this point. I took the car and returned home where I showered and rehydrated with V8 juice I had in the fridge. I wasn’t quite sure how well that would work but figured it was better than just water. It seems to have been fine and I started to feel better after a little while.

Meanwhile, the Scientist opted to walk the bike along the road he’d travelled to reach me instead of along the pathway I’d been on. It was quieter there and there was some shade for part of that way (although I’m not sure that was his consideration). He ran into issues closer to home that required a lengthy detour. In the end, he’d walked 8+ kilometers and was about to drop once home. Also, his leg was battered from the bike pedal hitting it regularly along the way. He’d already done his own exercise not much earlier so I can’t imagine his exhaustion.

I guess it might be a while until I ride again. I can get another tube easily but I’m concerned about the wheel being damaged from riding on a flat tire. That said, I will have to replace the tube in order to get it to the shop.