We are remodeling, and nothing in the house is where it should be. Everything from most of the house is piled in two rooms. And somewhere in that disarray, my bike computer vanished... You know, little black plastic thingie, easy to spot, right? This wasn't going to work out. So, after a little mulling it over, I realized I did have Strava on my phone, and my phone does plug into my Luxos U headlight. The phone would auto-lock, and I wouldn't be able to see it, but at least it would be recording.
Tossed in the rain jacket at the last minute; probably wouldn't need it.
We all met at the Wilsonville Starbucks in plenty of time for ordering things. I ordered a really big mocha, fully planning to pour it into my waiting empty thermal bottle.
Uneventful stretch south. I lost everyone on the hills at the south end of Howell Prairie, but found them again in Stayton. Not without rolling over some glass right before the store and flatting :-( Went into the store to stock up, and came out to find Ray starting in on my flat. I pulled out the spare tire, because there was a huge gash in my relatively new tire :-( and we quickly got it all back together. The only size Gatorade they sold was large, so I left the remainder under the mailbox, hoping it might be waiting for me on the return.
Lost everyone before Lyons. And I started to wonder if my tire irons had made it back into my bag. Hoped I wouldn't flat again... Arrived at Rosies; verified that my tire irons were indeed not with me, and had coffee and half a sticky bun and some sandwich. Borrowed a couple of tire irons from Lee, just in case. Back down to Stayton.
My Gatorade was waiting, so I refilled my bottle. The tire irons were where they had been left. So was my flatted tube. Returned Lee's tire irons. I like Stayton.
Watched everyone pull away just out of Stayton, then it started raining. Pulled on my jacket, and continued on. Found everyone under trees in Aumsville - Lee had gotten a flat. Given the speed differential of the day, I headed out, figuring they'd find me somewhere on Howell Prairie.
I did briefly stop at the gas station - it had quit raining, and I was getting warm in my rain jacket. The phone was happily recording away, and still at about 100% charge.
Onward. No riders behind me. Very strange. Got to Gervais, and as I was waiting in line with my purchases, they all pulled in. Lee didn't get very far, like maybe a block, before he had a second flat.
Same story here, watched everyone pull away. I think. Maybe I miscounted. Anyway, somewhere along Butteville Rd, Jeff M came along, and thought he'd stay with me. I kept trying to hang on, and just kept getting slower and slower and... you know, I think my tire has a slow leak. Yes, it did. We pumped it up, because it had taken 60+ miles to get squashy. Pumped it up one more time, went a little bit and pulled over. I didn't want it going flat on I-5. Only thing we could do here is change the tube; fortunately, I had a second spare.
We made it over the river on I-5 and into the finish with no further excitement.
Once I got home, I checked the Strava recording - pretty cool, it got it all! Plus, recorded two trips over the Boone Bridge on I-5 for ODOT.
2 comments:
Did you charge your phone from the Luxos while it was raining? The B&M product docs say not to to this... but I would like to know if you had problems that could have been related to this, and how hard it actually rained.
You can see the phone is under cover. I didn't trust it, and added a ziploc bag around the phone, which kept slipping off. The rain was heavy, but not for more than 10 minutes or so, then light rain. I left the phone connected the whole time. A plastic bag over the switch might not have been a bad idea.
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