Umstead Strikes Again

Recently, I joined a group on Facebook to facilitate group gravel rides at Umstead Park. I've been there a few times before and have more bad luck than good. The first time I rode there I had a very bad cramp. Probably because I tried to do too much too early into my reintroduction to cycling. Another time, I was stung by a yellow jacket. However, with this new group, I was ready to give it another try. So I set up a ride this past Saturday. This time was, once again, a disaster.

The ride started normally and we ended up having a total of seven riders. My previous rides at Umstead had excluded one trail due to it being closed. This time though, I suggested we take the trail since I had never ridden it before. I got off the preferred line, and into some looser gravel, and crashed. Not a bad crash, but I did end up on the ground.

Later, as we are descending on another trail, I hit a rock and my rear tire went flat. After changing repairing the flat the ride continued. I could feel though, that I didn't inflate the tire enough. The tire felt spongy and in the corners I could feel it rolling off the rim. The guy riding behind me mentioned that it was looking low and about to come off the rim. I was planning to stop and put more air in when, again, it went flat.

This seems to be my Umstead normal. Bad luck of some sort every time I go out there. I am not done yet. I will go back, I will give it another try. Maybe next time I will take two, or three tubes.

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