The Taber Family Blog

In Winters

On Saturday, Denise and decided to take our first Fall bike ride. The ride was actually my first in nearly a year and something I had been looking forward to for a long time. We felt we could make the 18+ mile ride into the small city of Winters and back, for a nearly 40 mile ride. We left Vacaville at 10am and as luck would have it, we suffered our first flat tire just outside of Vacaville, near I505. I had never changed a flat tire on a road bike, so this was a good learning experience for me, although I can honestly report my mood wasn’t the most pleasant at that point.

I got the tire patched and repaired in short order and we rode on northward. The fall weather was great for riding and as we got about 2 miles outside of Winters, Denise suffered a flat tire. Our second of the day! Seems like I might have angered the biking gods somehow this day. Nevertheless, we pulled over into a nearby walnut tree orchard and I repaired my second tire of the day. By this time it was getting into the early afternoon and neither Denise and I were in the mood any longer for the ride back. So we stopped into a local Winters coffee shop, called a close friend (Sara D.) and were graciously taxied back to Vacaville. We got in a solid 18 mile ride and for my first lengthly bike ride post-treatment, I think I did pretty well. Although when I got back home, the tidal wave of hurt and fatigue came over me, pretty much keeping me out of action for the remainder of the day. If anyone has any road tire advice, feel free to let me know!

Next time (hopefully soon), I’ll pre-load more calories and we’ll make the ride there and back. Can’t wait!