Fall Commute

I biked home from work early today to make it ahead of the rain. Even though the lighting wasn’t good, the fall colors were absolutely amazing. I had my old camera with me and got to do one of my favorite things to do while riding a bike — taking pictures! These pictures below are all taken on the climb up Smyer Road or from the top of the mountain at the Baptist Church.

Flat tires

With two flat tires in two consecutive days, I thought it was worth posting about my bad luck. Yesterday on the way into work, I had not made it a mile from my house and my rear tire was flat. I didn’t hear a popping or deflating noise, it just went flat so I thought I could fill it up with my CO2 cartridge and then book it home to change the tire. Turns out it was a pinch flat so I wasted a CO2 cartridge trying to fill it up since it deflated just as quickly as it would inflate. I rode home slowly on the flat tire.

Today, on my way into work, I got another flat – this time as I was climbing Shades Mountain (see map). This time it was my front tire, and I had left my saddle bag in my backpack at school during the Tuesday world’s ride. So with no way to change the tire, I rode it the 4 MILES down the mountain, across the valley, and then up to my building at an average speed of 10mph. Whew, hopefully no more flats for a while!

Commute route from home to Samford showing flat tire location