A very good day. It began the night before with a migraine, oh...about midnight. Then the decision; do I go to Mt Graham for some road biking? Or, stay local? (headache management is much easier near home)
I decided that I should "man-up" and give Mt Graham a try, but I couldn't get over the uneasy, dread I was feeling about it, so I showed up on a local corner instead for a respectable group ride out to Canyon Lake. I felt uneasy about that as well, so I was about to head out to Usery for some hill repeats when the Tuckers and Thomas's rolled up on their bikes. We turned around and soon ran into Kent Hatfield, Kyle Jorgensen, John Paul Jones, Tom Kokalaires, and Clay Allen (don't know why I wrote their full names out but there you go). Good, good friends and fun riding.
We all headed out to the 4-way and the pace was nice and easy. Clay fell off, (as was to be expected due to his return to cycling after a long layoff) so I stayed with him. We talked and rode and eventually all met back up at the 4-way. The Thomas's and Tucker's went straight and off to the Beeline Highway while the all-man group turned right for a backside Usery climb. I just sat there for about 4 minutes, torn.
Do I go with the group I started with, or turn to go the safer way? Great friends all, but as my day went, I was staying with the promptings. So... I took off after the fellas and we had a great time. We stopped at QT for drinks and it was decided that we would do a frontside loop for more miles. Hey, it's all good, so off we went.
The reason I ended up writing this post is because of what happened about 15 minutes later. We had just gotten down from the steeper part of the descent and had begun slowing down, when I had a blowout, not just a puncture, this was a one-inch tear through the rubber. What was strange was how much I had to fight to keep control of the bike, any faster and I know couldn't have held it, I would've lost it. I think I was real fortunate to keep from going down even at that speed ( about 15 mph).
No problem, a tire patch and a dollar bill for insurance to cover the hole, and we were off again. No good, another blow-out about 100 yards later so I made the dreaded phone call and Meri was on her way. The boys took off, it was getting hotter and there was no need for us all to fry.
As I waited by the side of the road, I thought i'd try a little experiment. I made myself visible, and in obvious breakdown mode I waited for reactions, vehicle or bike, no matter. Of the 25 or so cars or trucks, no interest. I guess I could see that, cyclists are usually not well-loved by vehicles but what I couldn't believe was the reaction from cyclists. My brothers and sisters of the skinny tire had shunned me repeatedly, not a word from 12 cyclists. Over the years, i've been snubbed by women, and maybe model-scouts before, but never would I have expected this.
Was it too hot? Did they assume that with my new confident-bearded look I could never be in trouble? Or, did they just not give a gosh-darn?
As a cyclist, I believe you should never, never, never "mind your own business" when you see a rider off the bike, or even a struggling cyclist ON the bike, you ought to ask "are you okay?" do you need anything?" It only takes 2 seconds and probably less than a calorie. You can't help someone if you don't ask.
Lastly, I forgot to mention, as I waited out there, it dawned on me that my flat was not a puncture, it was a blow-out and I started asking myself some "why" questions. Why did it happen then, and not when I was doing 40 mph about two minutes earlier? Why did I bag the Canyon Lake ride at the last minute when I had no reason not to, and by so doing, forgo the 54 mph downhill when coming back from EOP? Or better yet, shouldn't I have been on Mt Graham? The Mt Graham with lots of downhill, corners and cliffs with no side rails? I recall 40 to 50 mph descents on that monster, why not there? And why a migraine last night to start it all off?
I don't know, but as I get older I take the feelings I get, or a better term might be "a still small voice" a lot more seriously and it's served me well many times.
So there it is, my odd morning. I guess my lessons reaffirmed are... never expect help, but ALWAYS offer it, and always listen hard to that "inner voice", the life you save may be your own.
