Solo 20, set out for a nice easy recovery relaxing ride. Doing ok but always windy. SO head out from Pico golf course to a park ten miles south. A quick stop for a pic then headed back with plans to hit up Mongolian BBQ for the lunch special. Just go there with 15 minutes to spare thanks to a flat tire on the bike. Way ahead of schedule then boom! SO took me a few minutes to replace the tube then rolled back.
Thinking about my tire, I was paying close attention to the feel just in case it happened to go bad for some reason. Felt good so I was rolling back pretty good when I saw a rider exiting Wilderness Park. Looked somewhat like Eyemage but I've been mistaken several times. I see like 5 guys, not the burger place, but 5 guys that look similar to one another and often think it's Eyemage but I'm wrong. This time the guy looked like Eyemage but I figured it wasn't. I was paying some attention to his actions as he somewhat exited the park in front of me. I was actually worried about running into this guy and I figured being a seasoned rider, Eyemage wouldn't do a thing like that so I just rolled by.
Turns out it was Eyemage this time. A few minutes after I got back, I received a text asking if that was me that had passed him on the trail heading the opposite way. Yup, that was me! He said he called out but I just passed like he didn't exist ha ha ha! I told him about mistaking other people so I just assumed the person I had seen wasn't him. I also mention in my reply that he looked a bit smaller and thinner claiming I didn't recognize him seeming he had lost some muscle. Then I asked if he had stopped working out ha ha ha! I can't let him go without busting his chops one way or another, that's what makes me Mr. Beanz ha ha ha! I do wear my earbuds on solo trail rides as well so that would be the reason I didn't hear him call out.
He did say I was rolling pretty good and he thought about chasing me down except that he saw I was flying and figured he wouldn't catch me. I didn't realize I was pushing hard, just that I was thinking about getting back in time for the lunch special and paying attention to my tire pressure.
Funny thing, I rarely draft anyone getting in my workout into the wind. But a couple of guys rolled by as I started heading back. They opened a little gap then I thought, why not? So I closed the gap and sat on a wheel (2 guys) for a bit. Then I thought to myself, this is too easy like I'm cheating. So I dropped off letting them pull away returning to my pace. Just then, the back guy dropped off and I was catching him. Just as I caught him, we hit an ugly underpass, probably where I hit something.
The lead guy dropped back for the second guy and I had just caught up as well. I sat on the back for about 5 seconds then thought I'd take the front. Then I thought, not. So I backed off and good thing I did as that is when I felt the squishy feeling in my back tire. Looked down and could tell it was soft. Dang it!
So I made the tube swap easily seeing the damaged tube section. Still has some wear indicator on the tire but it's a 700 x 25 that I had been trying after reading all the comments about much more comfort on rides. Honestly, I see very little difference and as far as wider tires being faster, I feel more sluggish and less responsive. Guess I'll find out once I switch back to 23's. I'll look at the tire and decide how much damage or life is left then make my decision.
But anyway, I made it back and we hit up Mongolian BBQ. Gina in her new bling platform sneakers ha ha ha! She really seems to enjoy them and the food was really good today. Sometimes we enjoy it more than others but today seemed really good!
Now, back to the grind tomorrow ha ha ha!
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