Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

As much as I hoped the weather forecast of last night would be fraught with errors, I woke this morning to the first Nor’easter of the fall season (as per the weather channel). High wind gusts blew the rain against the window for much of the morning – this was not what I would consider ideal cycling weather.

With check-out at the hotel not until noon, I decided to delay my departure and hope that some of the rain might blow over. I was tempted to go down to the casino and try my luck at the tables again but decided that probably wouldn’t be for the best. Instead, I packed up my laptop and headed over to Golden Nugget for their WiFi. I probably should’ve worn my rain pants as I was more than a little soaked by the time I got to Golden Nugget. Clearly my brain was still sleeping – and now waterlogged.

I uploaded my latest blog update, checked some e-mails, and deleted more spam posts. Fortunately, the filters do a decent job of blocking most of the spam but still some gets through. I also noticed that the “favicon” in my browser bar has changed – I fear I may have been hacked. I’m curious to know what people are seeing for the “favicon” image beside the web address in their browser. It SHOULD be a white “M” on a blue background.

Ok, back to the update. I returned to Harrah’s, packed up my gear, checked-out of the hotel, and prepared for my soggy day. It was still raining when I left, but the gusty wind provided a nice little push as I left Atlantic City. Actually, sometimes it was much more than a “nice little push” – and since it didn’t push me into any cars I wasn’t going to complain.

My options for the ride back to Philadelphia were pretty limited so, despite my dislike for backtracking, I found myself retracing much of the route of two days ago. The upside to this route was that I would be able to stop for lunch at the Harbor Diner again. And I did.

The rain continued on and off for most of my ride – more on than off, but it did stop occasionally. My late departure seemed to have been somewhat successful at avoiding the harshest rain of the day. However, the downside of a late departure is that it doesn’t leave much margin for error in the event that things don’t go well. How’s that for a not-so-subtle segue into things to come?

Things went very well for the first 80km. The weather wasn’t great but it was mostly a non-factor. And, just like the ride to Atlantic City, I took the time to stop at the local fruit stand to stock up on apples – although, it took me a little while to remember where said fruit stand was. Then, at around 5:07pm with about 25km to go, I found myself in the far too familiar position of fixing a flat tire. To say that I wasn’t impressed would be a BIT of an understatement. I’m sure I said something like, “Gosh, darn it. Another flat.” Ok. I said nothing of the sort. But rest assured, things were said.

With all the practice I’ve been getting, I think I’m getting pretty good at changing inner tubes. I’m getting a little tired of the practice though. I was back on the road in about 15 minutes and about four minutes after that I was back off the road. Rest assured, more things were said. Repeatedly.

Before carting my bike off the road yet again, I did a quick inspection of my rear tire. By sheer coincidence I had stopped my bike with the rear wheel in a small puddle – and in the puddle was a frenzy of bubbles. It would seem I found the leak – and the glass shard that caused it. In the interest of time, I opted not to patch the tire and replaced the tube instead. I figured the tire can be patched tomorrow. Sadly, the replacing of the tube did not go quite as smoothly as the last time. It turns out the tubes that I bought back in New York don’t fit my wheel. Specifically the valve is too short. Rest assured, more things were said. Fortunately, I still had one tube left from a previous purchase which I proceeded to install.

A few factors were now converging. I now had no more spare tubes in the event of another flat. Plus, my late departure meant that time was no longer on my side. I try to avoid riding at night at the best of times; however, this was not the best of times. It was 5:40 and I still had over an hour’s ride ahead of me. And finally, the ride ahead of me would go through Camden, NJ. To put it nicely, Camden is not exactly the nicest part of town. And certainly not a place to be after dark – especially with a flat tire.

To say that the next 25km of riding was a little stressful would be an understatement. With all the flats I’ve been getting recently, it was becoming abundantly clear that my rear tire was going to need replacing. But that wasn’t going to happen in the next 60 minutes. And so I pedalled. I tried to stay in the middle of the road when traffic would allow it, in an attempt to avoid any glass fragments that tend to congregate at the side of the road. The kilometres passed. But very slowly. At the 100km mark I reached the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Only seven kilometres to go. Oh, and of course that would include that awful bicycle ramp up to the bridge. It’s a good thing my bike wasn’t any heavier!

To make a long story short (as usual, I guess it’s too late for that), I arrived back at Gage and Jack’s place around 6:45. And let out of big sigh of relief when I did. Tomorrow I’m buying a new tire (or two).

Today’s Totals:
Distance travelled: 107.27km
Time on bike: 5:07:22
Maximum speed: 55.41 km/h
Average speed: 20.92 km/h