Grumpy

Temperature at departure = 73° F (23° C)
Days until school starts = 37

I love that book -- and it pretty much sums up my ride home last night and the ride in this morning. I left work a little late hopeful that the 3.5 inches of rain we got in the late afternoon would be mostly dried up, and that I’d beat the next batch of storms headed my way. Eh, kinda. Here is what I faced in the first .8 miles home:

1. Snakes. Apparently, snakes seek high ground during flash floods along the creek -- and the bike/hike path is the high ground.
2. Washed out sections of the little bridge that I’m so fond of. The water got so high that it popped up a couple of the boards.
3. Mud. Lots and lots of thin patches of mud.
4. Flat tire. I’ve been reading a bunch of blogs that have been discussing all the problems people have with flat tires. I didn’t understand because flats have never really been a problem for me. I went 28 years on my ten speed without a flat; I ended up replacing the tires once or twice and got a new tube in the process, but no blowouts. Now, after close to 2,000 miles on the Trek, I’ve had my first blowout.

So, I called my wife - she has the van and is at a job site. I called my eldest – he’s out with buddies and is more than a half hour away. Tried calling my daughter but found out that she and the next oldest boy were both at work. So, I walked home. As I was walking across the bridge over 435, I got to the far end and found it was blocked off. Figures.

Storms threaten again this morning, but I decided to hop on the Mendota and head in. The tires are LOW. I decided I’d still ride in but skip the extra loop and fill the tires in my office. I make it half way down the part of the path that runs adjacent to 435 and am met by this guy.

Keep all the rain we’ve had in mind and you’ll understand what a soggy mess it was maneuvering around the guy. He wasn’t happy I took the picture (which will soon be e-mailed to the construction company working on the project) but, tough! I’m having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad continuation of yesterday.

I made it to the little bridge and stopped to take a picture of a wild turkey that was standing five yards away from me when a woman walked up and scared it away. We chatted for a minute about all the wildlife on the trail and I headed to the far side of the bridge to take a picture of the popped up boards to share with you. She followed and, just as I was about to snap, stomped the boards back into place. Oh, well. Perhaps the rest of today will be better once I’ve found my coffee cup. I know it has to be here somewhere…