(not so) pre-ride

Monday it was BALLS hot out.

And I went to try to pre-ride Massasoit.

Let's count the ways things went wrong.

1.  I take the HiFi off the rack and hear a hiss.  Is it so hot it's making my tire leak??  I quickly discover a nice little slit in the sidewall of my front tire.  Random.  I see if the caffe latex will seal, nope just spurts out.  I try to patch the outside (being lazy) and of course that doesn't work.....  ugh.  I just drove all the way out here, am I going to be forced to go home empty handed?  I contemplate a couple more options...
patch the right way and see if I can't get the tire to sit correctly with a floor pump, dump the caffe latex and tube it up... hoping that the sidewall won't tear further while on the ride, find a local shop and buy a new tire....

I threw a tube in the front and rolled the dice.  Gamble worked, made it through the ride with no further problems.

2. I was, however, not able to get a new tire after the ride.  I headed back to the LBS and was stopped by police barriers... the Boston Marathon was preventing me from getting across the road to the shop.  Balls, back home it is.  I had originally thought to go home, grab the roadie and ride to the shop, but I figured that the race would be past by 4... guess not....
(a plus... wasn't totally digging my front tire anyway, so here's a legit excuse need to get a new tire, YAY!)

So, back to the ride.

3. I thought I had stumbled upon the course as I saw some nice red dots/arrows on the trails - so I followed.  And it seemed like a great course... except it wasn't the course.  Ended up with 10+ miles, and the course is 7.1, hmmmmm.  Even accounting for some retracing when missing turns and some side exploration to see if I was on the right track I didn't think I could have racked up 3+ extra miles.

I did however come across this guy.

I think he was of the snapping variety so I used a stick to "help" him off the trail... he didn't like that so much.

4. When I got home I jumped on the Root 66 board and found that the course had been marked with yellow blazes.  So I was on the course some of the time, but didn't know to follow the yellow when it strayed from the red.  Oh well, I got a taste for the terrain, and me likey!

Do I got back and pre-ride?  Yeah, prolly.  Dunno if it will be this week or next, I've got time.  Still have the Fat Tire Classic up first (Winding Trails).

Yard work tomorrow, and maybe a road ride.... I've got goodies waiting for me at the post office.  SWEET!!