One of the cooler parts of the Tour de France is all the support that the riders get from their team cars.  Need a cut patched up?  Just ride next to the car, and your team doctor will stick his head out the window and patch it up.  More water?  The team car has a cooler.  Get a flat?  The team car will come up and in 5 seconds either give you an entirely new bike, or swap out the wheel and off you go.  It's that last one that I was envying yesterday.

Yesterday I did 35 miles on the Oak Leaf Trail.  First of all, it was a much more difficult ride than normal because of the wind.  It's not like the wind was constant in one direction either.  When that happens then you get it at your face for a while, and then get it at your back when you turn around.  No, this wind was swirling in all directions, and gusting.  My entire upper body had to stay tense so I could maintain complete control and not get blown over when it gusted across me.  It was good to do though, if for no other reason than to learn better bike control.  I'm really feeling it in my legs and shoulders today though.

It was the flat tire 8 miles from home that pissed me off.  That's the first time I've gotten a flat tire on this bike.  Thankfully, like a smart biker, I carry everything with me that I need to fix the problem in a small pack under the saddle:

• Spare tube
• Tire levers
• Compressed CO2 canister

So in less than 20 minutes I had my flat fixed and was back on my way.  You carry everything you need on your bike to fix a flat too don't you?  After all, not everyone has a team car following them.