It was lucky that I decided to hang on to the rental car until this afternoon as it was pouring when I woke up this morning. I left the 'cross bike in the back of the car from the trip back home last night, so I was all set to head to work. Since I'd told Pat I might need a ride in case of bad weather, he was pretty stunned to see my bike in the office. No, I'm not quite that hardcore.

It cleared up nicely by quittin' time and I hit a few trails on the way home. Since I'd accidentally left my trail pump in Pittsburgh, I was a little worried about flatting and I considered stopping in Reston to get another pump. But ignored that though and kept on riding. I was riding the trails and just before Hunter Mill, I started feeling a little more bottoming out on my rear wheel than I'm used to. When I stopped to check the tire, it was really low. I was stunned I was able to ride on it, but I continued on. Well, not long after that, I was riding on the rim--I had a flat.

I walked up the hill and then stopped at the bench in front of Hunter Mill Rd. Since it was so wet out, there weren't nearly as many folks out and I started to get worried that I wouldn't see anyone with a pump come by. But after a few minutes, I yelled out to a guy riding a nice Bianchi fixed gear. He didn't have a pump, but he had some CO2 cartridges and was more than happy to donate one to my cause. I only had a tube for my road bike, but I stuck it in there and pumped it up and continued on to Reston. He was an Army infantry officer stationed at Bolling AFB. Nice guy.

When I got to Reston, I stopped in at Spokes and picked up 2 tubes and a pump. Jess needs one too, so buying another pump was probably long overdue. I kept my wheels as is and rolled home without incident. When I got home, I took out my PVC barriers for the first time and went down the street to set them up in the park. I rode around in the mud and got good and nasty. I did quite a few barrier drills.

My biggest problem with barriers right now is doing them under control. A few times I came in with a bit too much speed and would have crashed into the first one. I also tend to get to much momentum for the remount and I nearly missed the saddle in the wrong spot a couple of times. My weaknesses were exacerabated by the wet conditions, but I got in some good work nonetheless. It was true 'cross weather today to be sure.