ITT Practice And The Walk Of Shame

With the Provincial Time Trial in early July I opted to ride my first practice ITT today on Kearney Lake road. An out and back is around 9kms so four circuits would get me close to the 40 km distance of the Provincial race. Generally flat but with some "bumps" and a longer gradual climb outbound Kearney Lake does simulate the actual race course.

On the outbound lap seven I was showing an average of 35.7kph but on a short riser I clipped something in the bike lane.A rock or piece of debris ended up causing a rear wheel flat. Switched out to a new tube but that burst upon inflating so I suspect there might be a shard of something stuck in the tire. With no other tube I reached for my phone only to realize I left it home. Doh!

With helmet strapped across the aerobars and shoes in my hand I start the trek home under blue skies and bright sunshine. I now have an appreciation for bare foot runners - I have no idea how they do it because my walk on pavement and/or grass was hard.(Note - at $32 a set I was not gonna destroy a set of Look Keo clips by walking in them). I have a couple blisters to prove my appreciation. Thankfully I did not have to walk the entire 8kms as Patrice from Farmer's Clem stopped and gave me a ride into the city as she was heading to the Bedford Highway store. I had her drop me off at the bottom of Dunbrack as I knew she needed to get to work. Thank you Patrice. My faith in humanity has been restored once again.

It is so funny the looks you get when walking a bike in bare feet dressed in cycling gear. I did see Tom back on his bike after his criterium crash so that is a good thing. Up until the flat I was feeling real good in the arerobars and I think my ITT position is almost optimal.The day was not a total writeoff as the sun did also shine. That in itself is worthy of praise around here lately. Having forgotten a phone I did have my camera. Go figure? Here is a short clip of my walk of shame or the practice of hiking while pushing a bike.

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