Did a Loop through Brazoria County today

Today was one of those days where I probably could've done a lot better on several things....

I got up this morning with the intention of joining in on the Tuesday morning Brazosport Bicycle Club ride. 

Let me digress here a minute.... I've finally got enough data on a particular phenomenon that keeps occurring over and over to determine that it is real and it's here to stay.... so here goes.... here it is....

I've gotten a lot slower at doing things - there.... it's out.

I don't understand what is happening.... I mean 7 or 8 years ago I would've got up, got going and been prepared to leave for this little bike ride in maybe 30 - 45 minutes.... now it takes me an hour and a half...

What's up with that?

Everything takes longer.... it's so annoying.... I'm so slow now.... and I forget things.... I used to have a photographic memory.... now I have to run around with a stupid little list in my pocket and write things down so I don't forget them.

So anyway.... I end up getting to the Park and Ride area where the bike ride starts about 5 minutes before 8.... and nobody's there.... Oh well - guess I'll go it alone.

Which I did.... so I'm tooling west down 332 toward Brazoria and first thing I notice is it's cold.... hello... what a thing to notice when you're out on the road on a bicycle.

I had become a victim of the Gulf Coast Temperature Shuffle!  You see.... 45 degrees in New Mexico or West Texas is no problem.... heck - it's shirt sleeve and shorts weather just as long as you're doing something... like riding a bike.... but down here on the Grand Gulf Coast where it's 92% humidity.... 45 degrees is cold!

Here's the 2nd little mirage..... when you're in New Mexico, you're pedaling up and down hills so 1/2 the time you're going pretty slow and you're working real hard.... well in good ole LJT (Lake Jackson Tx), it's flat as a pancake.... so when you pedal harder, you go faster and when you go faster there's more convection (that's a fancy word that means the wind takes the warmth from your body)..... then you're basically pedaling through water-laden air so Geez I guess that's enough about the weather miscalculation....

So I got close to the 332 bridge across the Brazos River and hung a riggit on 521.... heading for 35 between Angleton and West Columbia... and it was a nice ride.... I was getting the feel for being back on a road bike and finding the right gear for the conditions and finding the right position on the bike.... decided to pull over and raise my seat a bit.... that helped give me a little bit more power.... and then I was fiddling with the new handlebar mounted mirror and jacking with the new Cateye Strata Double Wireless Bike Computer that shows all the usual suspects plus cadence which I love.... kinda like a rev limiter for me.... tells me when I need to upshift and downshift based on my pedaling rpms.

So all is going well and I hit 35 and hang a left headed for the Bar X .... a big country subdivision on 35.... I hit the 35W shoulder and notice there's construction and quite a bit of debris on the shoulder which I'm doing my best to manuever around and through and I'm approaching the Bar X entrance and I ride around another pile of crud (by this time I should've realized it would've been better to be on the outside of the right lane instead of the shoulder..... but you know me.... I'm slow (see above).... so all of a sudden....

I hear this metal clicking sound.... now let me be the first to say I don't like to be riding a bike down the road and have the solitude of my AC/DC Back in Black shattered by a metallic clicking sound.... kinda makes you sick at your stomach.... last time I heard that I blew out a rear rim in Hamilton Tx and had to lay over an extra day to get a new one UPS'd in..... so I block off the steam and shut down the boiler room.... unclip my right shoe and ease to a stop and dismount to take a look and what do I see....

A freakin' thin, horse-shoe shaped metal clip protruding from the sidewall of my brand new 700x28 Bontrageur Hardcase - you know the "bulletproof" ones I just had put on at Bike Barn - Score Road 1 Bontrageur Hardcases 0... so what do you do when you see what amounts to a razor blade lodged in your tire?  You take a picture to document the damage right?  No! You reach down there and yank out the offending element and then hear the whoosh of air escaping from the tire.... kinda like pulling your finger out of a hole in a dike....

So I rolled my bike across 35 to the Bar X entrance and into the  Post Office box building and commenced to changing the tube.... and let me say right off I hate changing road bike tires.... I obviously have never learned the right technique cause it always ends up taking about twice as long as it should and is accompanied by a lot of cussing and some sore fingers.... speaking of fingers... mine were cold.... I had bought some really good cold weather gloves at Sun & Ski Sports a couple of days ago but did I bring 'em on this bike ride.... Naaaa..... course not.

So I'm sitting there with cold fingers changing the tube... I get the new tube in and the first bead on and I'm working on the last 8" of the 2nd bead.... obviously I've missed learning something about replacing a tube along the way.... because it seems nearly impossible to get that last 6 - 8" of the 2nd bead on without busting a finger, a gut or a blood vessel in my eye or something....I just can't get it...

My fingers are cold so what do I do?

What they tell you not to do.... use a lever.... and I pinch the tube and hear the air blowing out of it....

Am I good or what?

I had only brought 2 tubes with me and no patch kit (another stupid move) so now I'm sitting there looking at the last tube and thinking... Man what an idiot!

So what you gonna do.... cry foul or Man Up! 

So I did it right the 2nd time and got back on the bike and did a little tour around Bar X and waved at the deer and only succeeded in making a fool out of myself and getting even colder...

I figured... forget this....I'm heading to West Columbia and get me a cup of coffee and a plate of enchiladas.... but first I took a right on 36 and pulled into Walmart in West Columbia....

Mission - buy a couple of throwdown tubes to replace those recently holed and find me some more clothes - cheap.... which I succeeded in doing .... and in grand style.

I bought some light grey Fruit of the Loom warm-up bottoms and a bright Yellow-Orange warm-up top for $7.50 each - the warm-up top color matched the color in my new Pearl Izumi bicycle shoes perfectly so I'm feeling right smart and stylish about now... matching stuff up and all...

Now to the eating stuff.... I got directions to Lucy's Mexican Food joint - it was south on 36 heading out of West Columbia to Brazoria on the left.... had the enchilada platter and a couple of cups of coffee and felt better about the day.... I had done some stupid stuff but recovered nicely... so now I wanted to ride some more....

Which I did.... down 36 through Brazoria through Jones Creek to a left on CR 400 and a right on 2004 and then came into my subdivision the back way by the hospital and hit 31 mph with a nice tail wind down Hospital Drive.... that was fun...

So I pull into my driveway and get off the bike and open the garage door to put my bike away and the garage is empty....

No truck in the garage.....

Cause I drove it to the Park and Ride on 2004 and left on my bike ride from there.... I told you I was getting forgetful.

I just shook my head, mumbled a couple of unspeakables under my breath, got back on my bike and rode it across town to my truck..... put the bike in the truck and drove back to my house.....

What can I say?

Typical Day....