It was bike to week work this week and I had planned on biking at least 2 times, with the ambitious side of me hoping to do 4 or 5 days. Well, my week started great. I was up early on Monday and was on the road biking at 6:15 in the morning. I was enjoying myself, but I wasn’t looking forward to biking on Fraser Hwy because it’s so busy. A blessing in disguise came in the way of a fender bender causing traffic to slow. This helped me get through Aldergrove which is is the lone stretch of the hwy that doesn’t have a bike lane and has many vehicles parked on the side of the road and a construction zone. I made it to school just before 7:30. I had packed a backpack with a change of clothes and baby wipes to freshen up. It felt great to bike and I was very thankful I hadn’t had a flat tire. That’s one very great thing about biking, the long conversations I can have with God. I had been biking down one hill and was thanking God for having no flats so far, when my tire hit something hard. Thankfully, my tire didn’t pop. It had been a worry of mine, that I would get a flat, especially on the way to school.
When the end of the day came around I was not looking forward to having to bike home. Of course I knew once I was on my bike I’d be fine, it was just the getting there that was the problem. I started biking and as I knew it would be, I was fine. I even got to wave to a student as they drove past me. It was quite a bit warmer than the morning had been but still only about 20 degrees. I was just entering Abbotsford and I hit something hard again. This time, I felt the proof that could only be a flat tire. My first ever flat tire while biking. I pulled into a side road and then onto a small grassy patch. I felt very tempted to call for a ride, but I had a spare tire tube, a hand pump and tire levers, everything I needed to change the tire. I turned my bike over and took off the back tire. I have gatorskin tires and it took a very long time for me to get them off the rim, but eventually I did. I checked for anything that could cause the tube to pop inside the tire and then carefully put the tube in. I was worried about having a pinch flat but thankfully I didn’t. I walked up the renaming hills home and slowly biked the downhills and flat sections. In all it took me 2 and a half hours to get home whereas it took me 1 hour 15 min to get to school. When I got home I discovered I had also broken a spoke on my wheel. So now I have to bring my bike in to get fixed, which it was long overdue to be serviced anyways (since last year before I rode across Canada). So I didn’t bike the rest of the week. I was hoping to be more consistent about getting on my bike again this year, but that is not happening, yet, anyways.
When the end of the day came around I was not looking forward to having to bike home. Of course I knew once I was on my bike I’d be fine, it was just the getting there that was the problem. I started biking and as I knew it would be, I was fine. I even got to wave to a student as they drove past me. It was quite a bit warmer than the morning had been but still only about 20 degrees. I was just entering Abbotsford and I hit something hard again. This time, I felt the proof that could only be a flat tire. My first ever flat tire while biking. I pulled into a side road and then onto a small grassy patch. I felt very tempted to call for a ride, but I had a spare tire tube, a hand pump and tire levers, everything I needed to change the tire. I turned my bike over and took off the back tire. I have gatorskin tires and it took a very long time for me to get them off the rim, but eventually I did. I checked for anything that could cause the tube to pop inside the tire and then carefully put the tube in. I was worried about having a pinch flat but thankfully I didn’t. I walked up the renaming hills home and slowly biked the downhills and flat sections. In all it took me 2 and a half hours to get home whereas it took me 1 hour 15 min to get to school. When I got home I discovered I had also broken a spoke on my wheel. So now I have to bring my bike in to get fixed, which it was long overdue to be serviced anyways (since last year before I rode across Canada). So I didn’t bike the rest of the week. I was hoping to be more consistent about getting on my bike again this year, but that is not happening, yet, anyways.