We did another 50 miler today; a ride that goes to Groton, Dunstable, and Littleton. We used to do this ride all of the time and it was one of the first rides we led for AMC. However, I've only done this as a 35 or 40 mile ride from our friend's house or a school in Acton, and not for at least 2 years. The "showcase" of this ride is a very hilly section, about 8-15 miles from the end of the ride (depending on the start).
So, I kind of forgot how "rolling" the rest of this ride was. Lots of little hills. We started out very slowly. We planned to eat at this really good Italian deli in Groton center, but... first there was some kind of festival going on, a traffic jam, and a young woman who decided to do a u turn and find a parking space in the midst of all of this, in front of me. As I yelled "signal azzhole," I realized a policeman was standing there; he kinda smiled. The deli was closed, but we shared a wrap at a pizza place and headed on to the shady part of the ride. Hillier than I remember. Before we started the really hilly section, I was wishing I had eaten a whole sandwich. I ate a shot block, which I don't like that much, drank and headed on. The climb was fine, besides the van that wouldn't pass me on a downhill that was full of potholes...
So, we took a different way back, to avoid some rough roads and a few hills nearer to home. Some of this was on a busy road (Rt. 2A/110), but it has a good shoulder. I rarely ride on these kinds of roads, but it was flat and we had about 10 miles left when I heard a loud metal noise. I knew I had run over something and about a mile later, my rear tire was flat. Time to put my lesson from Hirakukibou to use. I told DH to let me do it. As I was getting ready to put the tube in, DH discovered a small hole in my tire. So, I whipped out a dollar bill and we put it in. All good, i put the CO2 in the tire and now on to replacing the rear wheel, which has been an issue. I was having a lot of trouble, but I stayed calm, and eventually, I got it. A few small hills off of this road, a new short cut, and we got back on the same road for the last 5 miles. I was fading fast, so we stopped in a parking lot and i ate most of a Luna Bar. I hit a squirrel going down Strawberry Hill (at the bottom, thankfully, only going about 20) and I didn't stop to look. By then DH had taken off to get up our street. We were greeted by about 30 teens from one of the local high schools who do dry land training for x country skiing on our hill. They didn't move over as I was climbing, necessitating me to go faster than I wanted, to get around them. I was exhausted, but I hit 50 miles as i was turning into my driveway.
DH went to the LBS to get me a tire. I guess my story I told here on TE, about the frame that was too big, my having to research the short reach brifters and bars myself got back to him. He told DH that he "understands me much better now." Yea, and the fact that he knows I know a good deal of the cyclists in Acton, Boxborough, and Concord and I've told many not to go there is not helping .