Hub On Wheels

We had a great time at the Hub on Wheels this year.  This is our third year riding a tandem at this event.  We did the 10 mile route the first year, the 30 mile route last year and the 50 mile route this year.  We were a bit confused at the beginning, though, because it wasn't raining.  This is our first year with decent weather and we thought we might have been at the wrong ride ;-)
We got there very early.  Stef had not received her registration packet in the mail so we wanted to get there before the lines got too long.  We've found that it's much easier to ride over there in the morning rather than make Jonathan drive us.  We had ridden the tandem down here last Thursday.  We left here while it was still dark and got to see the sun come up as we crossed the Longfellow Bridge.  I love being on a bike as the sun comes up.

We got there in plenty of time and actually had some time to hang out before the ride.  I, fortunately, had brought my knitting so I got to combine my two favorite pastimes!  I have no idea why I look so cranky.  I was having a lovely time!
The ride got started with a wonderful trip up Storrow Drive and back.  They close it for this ride once a year and I wish they'd make it a bikeway permanently!  It is so much fun to ride there.
This is Stef at the first rest stop.  I took a picture of her eating Fig Newtons.  She never eats this kind of thing except on bike trips.  I just wanted to have photographic evidence.

About six miles from the end, we managed to get a rear flat.  We were riding on a section of the Emerald Necklace that is kind of like a double-wide side walk and I think the rear tire got caught in the one of the ruts as we were going around the corner.  One of the things I usually like about this ride is that it's a bit of an obstacle course.  It really challenges my bike handling skills.  The downside of it is that it's a bit of an obstacle course and we end up riding over a bunch of stuff that can give us a flat.  We managed to change the flat with just a little help from a passing biker.  There are three things that I've learned from this.  The first is that the tandem is just going to get flats on long rides and I'm going to have to get used to it.  The second is that I'm never buying tubes with tiny, short valves since it's really hard to pump them up from flat  The third is that our pump sucks and I'm getting us a new one.

All in all, though, the ride was a great time and we'll look forward to doing it again next year!

BTW, this is us last year, slighty soggy and me 30 lbs heavier.