What an adventurous weekend we had! The HHH (Hotter 'n Hell 100) bike ride was this weekend so Friday after work we headed out of town with both bikes packed in the back of my car. You may be thinking "Now why would you take apart your bikes and pack them in Melanie's car when Will has a bike rack on his Jeep?" Well, we decided it would be more reliable to take my car since Will's is not fit for the highway (or really fit for anything!) anymore. Did you notice the key word *** reliable***. Bridgeport, Texas, here we come!
THE MISFORTUNE
Upon checking in the La Quinta hotel at 6:30 pm, I talked Will into taking me to Subway for dinner. He was reluctant because we wouldn't get to bed until about 7:30 pm if we left our room. But, begrudgingly, I aroused him out of the room and to the car.
Enter irony.
So, pulling out of the parking lot of the La Quinta in my reliable car, Will missed the road slightly and hit a giant bump and we heard a bad noise. Yes, we had a flat, almost shredded tire. At this point, Subway was out (I was sad and hungry) and we had to figure out how to fix a flat tire on a Friday night in Bridgeport and be up and ready to go at 3:00 am the next morning for our race.
We were able to pull into the parking lot of an AutoZone to assess the damage - not good. I called Roadside Assistance and was told it would be an hour before someone would get to us, so Will decided to try to figure out how to change the tire himself (if you are laughing right now, I was too but only in my head). Luckily, a very nice Hispanic man offered to change our tire for a few dollars and a deal was struck. I cancelled the call to Roadside Assistance. The spare tire was low on air pressure and we needed a jack, and conveniently, Mr. Hispanic had one at his house 'around the corner.' So without consulting me, Will hopped in the truck with Mr. Hispanic and left me in the parking lot of the AutoZone. I waved goodbye to him, wondering if I'd ever see my husband again.
A few minutes later they returned with a jack and a fully-inflated tire. I breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Hispanic put on our spare tire and the second the jack was removed from the car I heard air leaking out. Mr. Hispanic looked at us and said "No bueno." We had a hole in our spare tire. No, I'm not kidding. I made another call to Roadside Assistance and was told that this time, to get a tow truck it was going to take an hour and a half. Great.
OUR SAVIORS
At this point we were pretty much giving up on making it to our race the next morning. Feeling hopeless, a nice young man walked out of the store and started talking to Will. The guy introduced himself as 'Amon' and he just happened to own a concrete company and knew a 'tire guy' personally who may be able to help us out. I cancelled Roadside Assistance again. Not even 15 minutes later a dualie pulled into the parking lot and a man in grey sweatpants tucked into cowboy boots and a voluptuous woman with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth popped out of the truck.
Bart and Brenda, our saviors.
Even though they owned a tire company that services 18 wheeler-type trucks, they just happened to have a tire that would fit my car back at their shop. Keep in mind that it is about 8:00 pm on a Friday night now. We piled into the truck with them, Brenda had to drive because Bart had surgery that day and was under anesthesia and wasn't allowed to drive yet (but yet he could still operate heavy machinery and change a tire??) and went to get the tire at their shop. We got to know our new friends a bit that night and they were lovely people and we sure were glad they could help us. At their shop, Will and I watched with amazement at how quickly Bart was able to change a tire and Bart looked at us and said 'Yall sure are city folk.' Yes, we are Bart.
On the ride back to my car, new tire in tow, Bart said "Yall know Amon's last name? It's Cox, but I just call him 'Long'." We started cracking up... good times, good times. Bart put on our new tire and we waved them goodbye and said many, many thank you's.
After this adventure and meeting so many nice people Will was ready to 'hang a shingle' in Bridgeport, Texas. He would already have two clients - a concrete company and a tire shop ;)
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| Proof that Will tried to change the tire - he looks scared and happy at the same time. |
Three o'clock am rolled around and we were on the road to Wichita Falls for the race. We made it there successfully and actually ran into a guy from our gym back home, Jonathan, who was also riding. Will and Jonathan rode together for part of the race (they both did the 100 mile) and I rode in the back with the old people, fat people, and kids (I did the 25 mile). The race was really fun and the weather was perfect, at least for me. My ride was senic and even went through an air force base and the air force guys were cheering us on and we got to see some of their jets. I finished up my 25 mile ride with ease and took a shower then waited for Will. He rolled in around 12:25 pm, exhausted. The wind picked up and the heat picked up towards the later part of his ride and pretty much beat him down. But he finished and still made good time.
We did a bit of shopping at the expo, headed home to Dallas (praying that no more tires would pop) and recounted the events of the night before in Bridgeport. Someone was really looking out for us. Vowing never to let my tires get that bald again, we made it home safely.
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| HHH 2010 |
This is hilarious, and fantastic all at the same time. What a fun adventure, Mel you look so tough in your gear ;) -Rachel (like how my google account name is my old college ID number... nice!)
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