Too easy to forget that the best victories, in life, in cycling, in food, in art, in love, in battle, in peace-- are when you can overcome the small frustrations and difficulties. The bit of a bad luck balances out the meaning behind the result. My evening was no exception.
I really got to enjoy myself, in the company of m'lady. Who treated me to a lovely brunch of a sauteed onion & spinach omelette, some lovely black cherry & cranberry juice and a coffee, freshly pressed. All in the truly wonderful and gorgeous weather on the high-level deck patio, the home of which she is currently housesitting. From there, it was decided that we'd walk back to my apartment, wrap up the bars on her new singlespeed version of her Bianchi and go for a late evening ride.
The walk was very lovely, she would remark about some observations about the city, in addition to texting out conversations with others, while I just enjoyed the sunlight of the early evening, the company I was walking with and the walk itself. Upon arriving at my apartment I found that my rear wheel was flat--- good thing I have a small cache of 700 by 23C tubes on hand, for just such an occasion. I went about changing the flat. I soon found myself in a struggle of wills between myself, the seated flat tire and the tire lever to unseat the tire from the rim. It got so heated that I misjudged how much pressure I was applying and gouged a good portion of the rim. The rim in question is a Velocity ELVs rim--- the reflective coating is fairly soft and susceptible to gouges and scratches. Either way, it was the cause for a "sigh". I went about finishing the flat tube change and inserting the right amount of pressure so I can get riding without delay.
My ladyfriend arrived with her Bianchi and I quickly went about wrapping her drop-bars with some new cork bartape (Quickly should be confessed that I enjoy the act of wrapping bars, very aesthetically satisfying and rhythmic too.). She refreshed herself with some water and opened up a package she received in the mail, which was a replacement birthday present for myself--- a wooden iPhone case-- the previous one, I had broke on a cabin getaway with her back in June.
---All done. Okay, so time to wash the hands and a quick change of clothes would see us getting out on the road when an obtrusive "Puh-SHHHHHHHHHHHH" was a brief soundtrack to the moment. Another flat in the same rear-wheel tire?!?!
Instantly, the second-guessing begins: Had I done the installation of the tube and seated the tire correctly? Did I apply enough air to the tube and tire? Did I add too much? Did I seat the rimtape properly--- wait, that's it. Crap... there it is, the little frustrations. Sometimes the care of doing something with diligence and attention to detail, mistakes can still be made. And with that, my evening of riding in some very lovely weather with my very lovely loved one ended. We parted ways for the evening-- she rode off to meet some friends to enjoy a theme night at a club and I stayed back at my apartment, smiling and changing my iPhone's case "CRACK" "SNAP" "CRIC-CRACK"
--- crap. Broke another iPhone case.
