The Blue Hills Reservation is a short(ish) ride south on the Red Line subway (depending on track work construction). The park headquarters is a 7.1 mile ride the Quincy Adams stop on the Braintree branch.

It was a beautiful day. Upper 60, total sunshjne, dry as a bone.

After yesterday, my plan was to take a slow-ish day to see if I could pin down the problem with my knee. It was a much warmer day and I wore knee warmers besides. The good news is that I felt only one tiny twinge that was probably psychosomatic, but then, as you can see, I only went about 20 miles so it wasn't much of a test. The MInuteman Trail is also very flat, with no challenging hills at all.

Why only 20 miles? I hit something. I'm not sure what but I think it was some sort of fixture or fitting in the middle of the trail. It was right after crossing one of the streets in Lexington. BANG! Pffft. And that was that.

The tire was totalled. So bad, in fact, there is no way to salvage it. I would never have made it home if it weren't for the brilliant designers of the one dollar bill. Yes, a dollar bill makes a wonderful tire patch, although I've never had a gash bad enough to require trying it before.

I got it patched, turned around and headed for home, riding slowly to make sure I didn't hit so much as a stone. I made it to the Minuteman Bike Shop and bought a very cheap $12 as insurance and continued to Alewife Red Line Station and took the subway the rest of the way home. Anybody want a cheap 700x23 tire? It's yours for the asking.

Luckily, ATA Cycle, where I bought my bike, is open on Memorial Day, so I'll be over there at first light to see what can be done about this. I'm hoping the sharp spot can be filed and the rim can be trued as it's quite wobbly now. I mean, Mavic MA3 are hardly top of the line, but I really would rather not have to buy a new wheel,. especially when I'll need a new tire as well.

Statisics:

Date:

30-May-04

Type

Road

Miles:

22.43

Time:

1:57:44

Avg:

11.72

Max:

22.0

A severe cut. You can see the dollar bill holding the tube in place. You can also see that it also damaged the rim.