Squeak, squeak. Thats how my ride started Saturday in Columbia. I almost did not ride. My inner sloth had come out. It was cold, my 'dale was in pieces, my track bike was noisy, and I did not feel like taking the time to swap wheels on the 'cross bike. At the last minute, I took my off my dress and grew some testicles. "Dam the torpedoes!" I threw the fixie in the wagon, and got dressed.

The problem with rush jobs is there is always something that you mess up. In this case, I couldn't find my booties. And, I knew my rear tires pressure was unusually low but I pumped it up and prayed it would last the ride. Creaky, creaky went the bike as we turned onto Bluff Rd. Damn thats annoying. We got past the golf course... Creaky Creaky Clanky. We turned away from the highway and headed south. Clank Clank Squeak Creak. Mark asked if the bike was going to last 2 hrs. Clunk Squeak Clank Thunk Creak Squeak Clunk. We decided we should take the next cutoff back to Bluff. We made the turn, went 100 ft and suddenly the noises stopped. Was it miraculously fixed or was the bike about to fall apart. The calm before the storm???? We said, !@$% it and soldiered on with our planned route. Everything worked out in the end. Except for the flat rear tire that should have been fixed if I hadn't been rushing around at the last minute. Oh yeah, my bootie-less feet were also half numb. About 2:20 ride time - 18.8 avg