Quite the ride

I have quite a story for you all. But, I want to preface it with this...I know I did some things wrong. I'm more than happy to admit that, but I'll get to that...later.

It all happened on President's Day (or, according to my neighbor who left Sunday to travel there for business -and will be sitting in his hotel until Tuesday, by himself -"Family Day" in Canada). Anyway, many people are off on that day. Not true for the kids here, or for Nate. That being said, Nate had his 10-day post-op Dr's appointment at noon and he got to come home afterward. That was nice! And Julia didn't go to school because she wasn't feeling quite up to par (she has a cold). So, what did I do? I got to go for a bike ride!

I was all pumped about it too. I was going to make it my longest ride yet. I mapped it out and had planned a 20-mile ride. The weather was gorgeous! A perfect, sunny day. (Sorry to those who are dealing with snow and cold!) :) I was 10 and a half miles in to the ride...I made a sharp-ish right hand turn and felt a significant change in my bike. It almost felt like a sort of "slipping" sensation. Then, I knew something was definitely wrong. I pulled off the road and checked my back tire. I could push it all the way in. It was VERY flat. Oh no! I was pretty far from home, and not in a very busy area. I looked around and tried to decide what to do.
Do I wave someone down?
Do I ring the buzzer of the very big mansion close by?
Do I walk?
I crossed to the other side of the street (walking my bike beside me). I decided to try buzzing someone at the mansion. I walked up to the gate, but no luck. I didn't see a bell or buzzer or intercom of any kind.
Next? I stood by the side of the road for a while, looking rather helpless, to see if anyone would stop and ask if I was okay or needed help or something. No luck there either.
So, I decided to start walking. After walking a short way (pushing my bike next to me), I came across a temporary fire station. "Oh good. That's perfect," I thought to myself. I went up to the trailer, parked my bike by the porch, walked up to the door and knocked. No answer. I knocked again and said, "Hello!" Still, no answer. I went over to the over-sized garage, knocked on that door and peeked in. Still, no answer. They were out on a call, and I was, once again, out of luck. I began walking back toward the road. It had been a while since I had seen a car and I began to worry a bit. I heard one coming and started to walk closer to the road so they could see me. I put my hand up to wave, but I wasn't close enough to the road and the driver didn't see me. I walked right up by the road, another car started to pass. I waved again...this time I was seen and the driver stopped. It was a nice man with two young kids in car seats in the back. He asked if there was something he could help me with. I told him that I blew a tire and was wondering if he had a cell phone I could use. He did. I called Nate, thanked the man, he left and I waited. Minutes went by, the firemen came back and offered to air up my tire. But, it was a hole, at least was pretty sure it was, so I thanked them and said I had a ride coming. Nate got there two minutes later, we loaded the bike on to the top of the car and went on our merry way.

The girls were so excited that they had come on this "rescue mission" to save Mom. They were so cute. Nate said after I called that he told them they needed to go save Mom. They've probably never been faster getting ready and running to the car. :)

Nate dropped me off at the local bike shop with his credit card and he took the kids home. I got the tire fixed (they even showed me how to do it myself) and finished off with a ride from there to home.

What an adventure that was!

Lessons learned...
ALWAYS have a cell phone with me when I ride! I'd also like to get a tire repair kit to have with me too.

I think that's probably enough said. :)