accomplishments

[margo49]

. . Not sure if I will be able to get the thing pumped back up all the way. Good grief those little pumps are hard to keep pumping with

Yeah, but the big ones are harder to deal with!

[salsabike]

26 miles is pretty cool, DDH.

Try a Toepeak Roadmorph pump. They're small enough to fit on the top tube but have a little thing you can step on when you pump, like the big floor pumps--so you don't have to do it all with arm strength.

[SnappyPix]

DDH, congratulations on your ride last weekend, especially as you were ill.
26 miles is a great distance and not to be sniffed at - and it's irrelevant what other people ride - your ride is YOUR ride. Hope you have fun on the 50 and feel a lot better.

Good job on your 1:2:1 puncture workshop - that's the most important thing you'll ever learn (aside from learning to ride your bike in the first place, but you've already mastered that one!). And I've recently changed over to a Topeak Road Morph pump, which is 100 times better than any little pump - gets your tyres (tires) up to full pressure and won't bend your valve in the process. Lots of girls here use them and I'm now a complete convert.

Happy riding.