Two Rides: Flat and Fast

I did two rides last week.  Nothing monumental, but I'm starting to ramp it up a bit to get ready for the Buzzards Bay Triathlon, which is coming up in September.

My first ride of the week was hill repeats.  My friend Wendy and I were scheduled to ride up and down Thompson Hill 2 or 3 times.  So I headed out towards the dam.  Just as I was starting to cross the dam, I heard the dreaded sound.  Hissssssss.  No, not snakes.  A flat tire.  Ugh.  Big confession.  I don't know how to change a flat.  I don't even have any equipment to do it.  I carry a spare tube.  So I called Rob and he came right down to rescue me.  While I was waiting for Rob, I texted Wendy to let her know I'd be late.  The dam is narrow.  It is one lane in each direction with absolutely no shoulder.  Quite the opposite, it has a guardrail with a steep drop off on both sides.  I was smack dab in the middle of the dam.  So I just sat down on the guardrail and waited.  Many cars drove by and no one stopped to offer help or see if I was okay.  That seems normal to me.  But then a state police officer drove by.  Nothing.  Not are you okay?  Do you need help?  Can I make a call for you.  Nothing.  I'm still stewing about it now (a week later).  Wendy rode up to the dam to make sure I was okay.  And of course, Rob changed my tire for me.  Wendy and I still got in the hill repeats.  All good.  Lesson learned:  don't ever forget your cell phone on a ride!  Or bring a person who can change a tire.  Or learn how to change a tire.

This is where I got a flat tire.  No shoulder, steep drop off.

My second ride was fast.  I rode with my friend Ken.  We did the same route that I did recently in the big ring.  But faster.  It didn't feel crazy strenuous because we were chatting the whole way.  I was packing up Harry for camp that day and Ken had just gotten back from touring college campus' with his daughter.  Oh the parallels I was drawing between the two situations.  Soon Harry will not be going to camp but will be off to college.  It happens that fast.  I know.  But back to the ride:  it felt good to go that fast!
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Stats:  (I forgot to clear out my computer between rides, so these are both rides combined)
22.32 miles
13.1 average MPH (Ken tells me our ride was a 14.9 average, so those hill repeats did me in!)
30.7 max speed
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Take care and keep pedaling!
~Cori