FS III, Bikes and Stuff

So this morning I am tying my shoes and getting ready to go to the FS III race and I look at the bikes that I had sitting in the dining room and what do I see?

Two bikes, two flats pretty much at the same time.  What are the odds?

Yup!  Both freaking bike tires are flat! You can't tell on the MTB tire as much right now because I rotated it but trust me it is flat.  That sort of shot a hole in my riding plans for the afternoon.  What really pisses me off to no end is that I just put a new tube in the MTB on THURSDAY cause it was flat then.

On the upside, Larry and I met at Pro Cycling on Saturday and picked up all of the goods we will need to convert my MTB to tubeless.  Hopefully I won't have any more issues, or at least less after this.  But now I need to get the Cannondale fixed too.  I swear I hate bikes.

When I was a kid I rode A LOT of BMX type stuff.  Hard riding, jumping stuff, trails, all sorts of stuff and I rarely ever got flats.  Now it seems if I look at bike funny there goes a tire.  Not to mention my number one bitch of all time when it comes to bikes... Schrader vs. Presta valves.  ARGH!  Seriously... Why can't there be just one size and we just go with that universally???  I know why Presta valves are used on thin narrow rims as not to weaken them but god I hate messing with them.   I have hated Presta valves ever since I got my first bike with them in 1988.  I swear they were only invented to piss me off.

But anyway, if there one thing that scares the hell out of me in this potential Leadman quest it is just that... the bike part.  Not that I don't think that I can ride 100 miles, I think that is quite possible but can I ride 100 miles without a bike or a tire falling apart on me?  Maybe I will just put so much damned sealant in the tire that nothing will cause it to blow and say screw the weight!  I have already said that when I cross the finish line in Leadville for the MTB race that I am going to immediately put a "For Sale" sign on the bike to get some money back hopefully. 

Bottom line though, no ride today. 

Fall Series III went okay today.  I ran it solid the first 3.1 miles like I wanted then kept going.  My pace really slowed down the second half of the race but that is where the majority of the elevation gain was and the race was about a mile longer than advertised... 6.53 compared to 5.5 miles.  I really didn't want to kill myself today (I have decided that FS races just don't merit that great of an effort for many reasons) and just use the first part of the race as practice for my November race.  And I do believe that things are shaping up quite well for a new 5K PR in November! 

Still all in all not the worst weekend.  Melissa was home and that is great and we went to a fun Halloween Party Saturday night.  Annie came down from CSU and spent some time with us on Friday night. Some things never change as the three of us were having quite the cutthroat game of dominoes Friday night with everyone being as mercenary as ever.  God I love my family!  :)