Kimby Bikes Again!

In August I rode in my second MS Bike. Due to one of the most devastating floods to ever hit my home state, the usual trail was washed out and not accessible for most of the bike route. The organizers made the decision to move the event to nearby Morgantown. The event was also pared down to just a single day. However, I had convinced Blake to join me this time, so we were still excited to get on the wheels and pedal about Mo-town.

It was also a chance for me to visit the town I hadn't seen in about 15 years. Blake had never been, so we treated it like a vacation. Minus the 3 hour nap I took post ride.

I took some photos, but unfortunately my camera with the memory card of the event was stolen in a break in we experienced the following month. Mandy took lots of photos (as usual), so all these can be attributed to her.

Everything was going pretty well for the first half of the ride. We were making great time despite my chain falling off at the beginning of the ride. The trail was mostly shaded, but the humidity was rising quickly as time passed. As always, the rest stops were well stocked with goodies and fluids to keep us fueled.

On the way back I got a flat. We were quickly approaching max heat and humidity for the day, so we fast changed the tubes and set out again. A few minutes later I noticed I was exerting a lot of energy to keep up with everyone. I looked down and saw my tire was flat AGAIN. For real. We pumped it back up to get to the nest rest stop. We thought it could possibly just be from not having a full-sized pump.

At the rest stop I handled my tire situation with a big girl pump while Blake refilled my bottles. I tested it - great, that worked. We take off again, but within 10 minutes I can see that my tire is slowly losing air. EFFFFFFFFFF! We hop off again and curse at the situation. The pump tries to give up on us, too. Everyone was hot and tired. I made a decision to pump it up one last time, then ride as fast as my legs would take me to the finish. We had about 20 minutes left to ride at that point. I was determined to not stop until I crossed the finish.

By the skin of my teeth (or the tread of my tire) I made it just in time. I had worked so hard to keep up - I was exhausted. I took the extra beer tickets from Mandy and her dad to celebrate our victory (or cool down).

The race has been moved back to the Greenbrier River Trail this year. I'm excited to participate again - and hoping this time everything will go off without a hitch (or a flat)!

Before the ride - all smiles!

OMG WE DOOOOOOOOONE!

Carb loading with our s'more pizza for dessert