I took off on the F5 this morning and rode to Martins Mill. I ended up with 62.3 miles. I had 60 miles during the week, so 122 miles total for the week. I had ridden 130 miles in each of the last two weeks before this one, 4 short rides each week. The first week of September, I had 3 rides for 100 miles.

I’ll likely ride 30 miles on Monday morning. That will give me 515 miles for the month, and 4,180 miles for the year. I’ll need to ride 1,320 miles in the remaining three months to reach my 5,500 mile goal for the year. I should be able to do that if the weather doesn’t get too bad near the end of the year.

I’ve been taking a different route to Purtis Creek, and on east lately. It’s a more northerly route that gives me less shoulder riding time on US 175. I really don’t like that shoulder, and last Tuesday’s ride was another reminder of why. I was checking my rear view mirror and looking ahead for my turn. That proved to be exactly the wrong time to look away from the road, as I hit a broken piece of brick that pinch flatted the front tire, and before I could stop, I hit a small piece of 1/4″ steel plate that punched a large hole in the side of the rear tire.

I carry two tubes, and some old rim tape for booting a tire, so I was able to fix both tires, but even with the two pieces of rim tape over the hole in the rear tire, it bulged so much I only pumped it up to 60 pounds. It got me home though, a tire ruined after less than 500 miles. There’s just too much debris on the US 175 shoulder. It seems that everyone who hauls a flat be trailer, just tosses all kinds of junk on it, then watches it all fall out on the road. And of course it all ends up on the shoulder with me.

I bought a Continental GatorHardshell tire to replace the ruined one. It does indeed have the toughest sidewall I’ve ever seen on a bicycle tire. We’ll see how well it holds up.

Today’s route.

Tuesday’s ruined tire. My finger will almost fit through that hole.