I told Jess before heading out this morning that I figured I'd get a flat tire since I pumped them up to correct pressure. They hadn't been pumped up with my floor pump since they went flat on Tuesday. Sure enough, I was right. I got a flat not more than a mile down the road--right next to Revolution Cycles. It's funny how getting a flat really didn't phase me at all. I finally found what I think has been causing the flats and what the problem was during the race. A small piece of glass fell out of the tire near where the puncture occurred. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. I patched it up and went on my way. I had no more trouble with the tire.

I ate lunch in my office today and worked on getting my front wheel in good shape. Using Pat's tension meter and the truing stand, I raised the tension on all the spokes. Working on the back wheel will take more time as I must be careful not to take out the dish. I think building wheels is something I will get involved with eventually. But I'll have to wait until I've got a bit more money to spend. Speaking of money though . . . both Pat and I agree that it's time to get some new tires. My tires have developed quite a few gashes in them from riding in the Boston streets. I'll likely make a purchase sometime next week and use those tires only for racing. I'll still commute on my current tires. Those are 28's but I think for racing I should move down to at least 23's.

Coming home today, I got moving pretty well as soon as I hit the trail. I decided that since my legs were feeling pretty good, I'd go for a big time. I started hammering and spent a lot of time above 35 kmph and a substantial section of time above 40 kmph. I was averaging 33 kmph before I left the trail. The ride through the city bumped that down to a still fastest average of 32.8 kmph. I'm very pleased with the effort and my legs still feel great. I'm starting to slowly test my limits and get an idea of where my fitness level really is in cycling. I don't yet know what it's like to really suffer on the bike as I do when racing on foot. It feels good to put in an hours worth of hard work.

Dist / Time / Avg / Max / Odo
34.47 / 1.08.14 / 30.3 / 50.2 / 1224.0
38.14 / 1.09.43 / 32.8 / 53.3 / 1262.2