Ride like the wind...or not

This morning, I met up at Epic Bike and Sport for a ride. Epic is a DFT sponsor this year. I met up with Scott, Epic's owner, and his neighbor, James, and a friend of mine, Dave, for a ride. I needed to put in about 4 hours today, and these guys were planning on about 1/2 of that. I wasn't familiar with the route, so I tried to pay close attention as we headed out. I am not blessed with an internal compass!
It was good to get out, nice to meet some new folks, and even better learning some new routes in the northland. Well, Scott was leading the ride, and we started out pretty hard. People think MO and KS are flat, but it's simply not the case - there are plenty o' hills in these here parts...and I think we found 1/2 of them at the start of this ride. It was good for me being forced to hang with the fellas, since I didn't know where I was going. After about an hour, Scott and James needed to head back. The sad news? Well, we were riding "with" the wind on the way out (if there was such a thing today!). Here's a little snapshot of the wind conditions today:
Wind:
Wind Speed 10 mph / 16 km/h (SSW)
Max Wind Speed 31 mph / 50 km/h
Max Gust Speed 40 mph / 64 km/h

Alright, so I thanked the fellas for getting me to this point, and I actually knew where I was now, so Dave and I continued on for about 15 minutes or so, and Dave decided he should turn back too, knowing the wind would be a huge factor heading back. We stopped for a couple minutes to eat/drink, and I noticed my front tire was a little low. We'd ridden over some rough patches, so I guessed that was the cause. I didn't, however, change the tube (which I probably should've done at that point) - Dave was kind enough to let me use some of his CO2 and I aired it up. We parted ways and I continued to head North. After another 45 minutes or so, I noticed my tire was low again, so I stopped off to change the tube. A large group from Cycle City was passing by, and a couple of them stopped to see if I needed help. I would've been fine, but it was nice of this fella to stop and help me. The wind was so fierce, we could hardly hear each other talking - crazy!

I thanked Richard for his help and turned back South to head back to the starting point. Oh boy, this was going to be interesting. The wind was so strong, there were times I was blown into the road. I also noticed on the downhills, I wasn't really gaining speed - that's such an odd sensation. At any rate, I was really enjoying being outside and had to laugh when the wind would gust and nearly knock me off my bike...or make me feel like I was going backwards. It really was nuts out there.

I couldn't remember our exact route, but had been on several of these roads before, so I was slowly making my way back towards the shop. Thankfully, I put the # in my cell phone, in case I needed directions! That came in handy (what? I told you I have no internal compass!) at one intersection I came upon. I knew we had been there, but could not for the life of me remember which corner we had come from. I called the shop and Scott answered, "Uh-oh, this must mean you're lost!" he said into the phone. No, I don't think I'm lost...yet...I just don't know which way to go. So, he gave me directions and I proceeded on. Unfortunately (for me) I spotted a street we came off of and opted to take that route, rather than the road Scott told me to go. There was a reason he wasn't taking me back the way I came - and I soon figured it out. There were some serious climbs through this subdivision!!! At one point, I thought...if I don't turn these pedals over again, I'm going over backwards - Eeeks! I was just about to the top of that climb and heard a POP on my bike. I wasn't sure what it was, but sure couldn't stop to figure it out. I made it to the top and kinda looked around - didn't hear anything or see anything funny. Onto the next climb...uh-oh, now I'm hearing a metal-rattling sound...when I got to the top of that climb, I figured out that a spoke on my rear wheel had popped! I have zero experience with this, so I got on the horn and called Terry. I couldn't get him, so as I'm pondering what to do, Troy called. I tell him, "you're not gonna believe what just happened to me..." Troy is always encouraging and constantly reminds me that, "Dawn, this IS the ironman!" He was getting ready to do his run, so we wished each other well and hung up. I called Terry again, and this time I got him. As he was talking me through what to do, a truck pulls up and a guy says, "do you need help?" He adds, "I owned a bike shop for 3 years..." Are you kidding? What are the odds of that? It's easy to chalk things like this up to just a neat coincidence, but, as a Christian, I believe that God is in the little things of our lives too, and he had Tony come through that street at the perfect time to help me. Tony cut the spoke (since we couldn't get it out) with some pliers and told me I would be fine riding it back to the shop.
I always wish I had a way of getting in touch with people who stop to help in these instances...it sure would be nice to thank them for going out of their way to help a complete stranger! So, thank you to my strangers, Tony & Richard, and my friends, Terry and Troy for your help today! A few words is sometimes all you need to move forward!

Alright, so I finished my ride and wheeled my bike right into Epic and handed it over for repair. I think Scott was wondering what had taken so long, but at last, my ride was over! I'm beat and VERY hungry (as is fairly common these days!)