My Bubblegum Bike

For those of you who don't know, John and I are training for a Long Course Triathlon (Half Ironman) this year. The race we picked is the Pacific Crest Triathlon. It will be on June 26th in Sunriver (Bend), Oregon. The distances include: 1.2mi Swim, 56.3mi Bike, 13.1mi Run


John and I rarely get to work out together between our work schedules and Dominic schedules. We did the Olympic Distance (1.5k Swim, 28mi Bike, 10k Run) in 2007 and had more opportunities to work out then even though we both worked out of the house. I will say it's much more challenging with Dominic around.

So Monday - and to my point - John and I got to go out for a 25 mile bike ride - OK, I mean a planned 25 miles. Dominic was down for his nap, the sitter was at the house, it was a gorgeous day...we headed out! Not 9 minutes and just under 2 miles out, my tire blows up. Not just a flat, no, my tire literally got sliced which made it un-bikable. We laughed at the chance that I got a flat so soon and laughed harder at the fact that it was un-fixable. What can you do in this scenario?! So I got to sit out in the sunshine while John blasted it back to the house to grab the car. I am thankful that I was riding with him and that it happened so close to home. I hardly remember how to change a regular tire, I probably would have tried and blown another tube.

So John picked me up and we headed to the bike shop (Cycle Sport). We both needed things done to our bikes aside from me now needing a new tire. We still have the stock tires on our bikes from 2007 so we ended up replacing all of our tires. On top of that, I had some gear issues and my trip computer was not working (just a battery issue) and then there was the torn up bar tape from the great attack of the Monsters in the Garage of '07 that I finally got to get fixed. I got to pick out my own color! Now, I could have gone with the original black, but they had this fabulous PINK! I realize it doesn't match my bike at all, but I think it adds some fun. My saddle back has ripped - the rubber has separated from the base in one area, but the rest of the bag is in good shape so maybe I'll use a tire-repair glue kit and fix it, during which maybe I'll add a cute coverlet with some scrap material that has some pink colors. LOL That would tie it all together. They also carry pink bottle-cages but that would be silly to replace perfectly good ones. John was laughing at my color choice, but I thought of a great reason for doing it - I will certainly be able to to pick my bike out of the hundreds on the rack at the triathlon. :)

All in all, it was an expensive day between the sitter, bike shop and we went out to lunch while waiting for the repairs. But we got a date out of it and it worked out fine and was essentially necessary for tune up's and fittings. I can't wait to ride with my new flashy handlebars! I feel like I have bubblegum strapped to the handles. haha.