I met up with the TNT team over in Varina for a nice 40ish mile ride. It started off with everyone questioning what they were wearing and if they should change. Rob then led a mission moment for the TEAM. It was a touching story of how he recently got to spend some time with the Dr. who saved his life over 20 years ago.
Once on the ride we were motoring along when Paul noticed something was wrong with Karen's rear tire. At first he thought her wheel had come out of true but upon inspection, the belt of the tire had actually blown in two different places and was causing the tire to grow massive ulcers. Naturally we were about as far away from the vehicles as we were going to get so Karen, Paul and I continued riding very gingerly in the general direction of the vehicles.
2 or 3 miles down the road, we were passing a small house who's property was lined with a row of boxwoods. A small dog came bolting through the bushes and into the street just yapping away at Paul's feet. A larger dog then came running through the yard. Just as it was breaking through the bushes, Karen's rear tire blew scaring the dog back through the bushes and into the yard. We stopped just a house or two down to assess the situation.
"We have ourselves a situation"
The tire had blown in the center of the tread and I wasn't confident we could get it fixed. Karen started making a few calls while Paul rode ahead and told the group not to wait for us. After not being able to reach anyone, I decided to try a Powerbar wrapper to help patch the hole long enough to get us as close to the cars as possible. Karen looked at me like I was mental but I got her back up and rolling. About a mile later Tom rolled back around and asked how we got it fixed, and I replied a Powerbar wrapper. He laughed and gave me the same look Karen had.
Shortly thereafter the second spot on the tire gave out. I was out of wrappers but thankfully Tom had a wrapper from another company who I am sure you have probably never heard of seeing how Powerbar is the only company who makes bars taste good. While we were dropping it into place Karen reached someone who was going to pick her up on the other side of the airport. With just a couple of miles to get to the opposite side and the tire patched again, we rolled even more gently than before. We got to within about a half mile of where she was meeting her friend when the tire gave out again. With all of the rubber that was being blown, I was glad to see someone had left us a gift on the side of the road. I don't think their situation could be fixed with a Powerbar wrapper, however.
After getting Karen situated, Tom and I started riding back doubting we would see any of the group before they rolled out of the parking lot. The pace was steady as we rode through the Battlefield and we came across three other teammates heading in the opposite direction. They had missed a turn and were searching for it. After the ride Tom made a post over on DM about "trying to keep pace". If a deck of cards comes out while he is around and the game of choice is poker, I can guarantee I will not be sitting down at that table. His face and body language showed no tells he was having to work at keeping pace although, he would later claim he was. Great ride Tom!
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