Screaming downhill in the dark

I went for a bike ride this evening and got another friggin flat! That makes a perfect record for the whole month of October. Not one road ride was without a flat. The thorns are positively thick out there right now.

Anyway, the ride is about 90 minutes with no problems. Long ass uphill and then really fast downhill. If I have no problems then I can make it home before it gets dark. "If" I have no problems...

My rear tire started to get soft almost at the top of the climb. There was no way I was going to go 40mph downhill with a soft rear tire. Disaster would be unavoidable. So I pulled off and replaced the tube. I'm getting pretty good at that by now.

I got back on the bike and went as fast as I dared in a very gray and dim twilight on a cloudy, moist evening. The next bit was relatively uneventful except for a bug that hit me just below my left eye with a wet SPLAT. I could see the pavement for the most part and managed to avoid any potholes. I admit I had visions of one flatting my front tire, sending me sliding on a trail of skin into the ditch.

A ways further down the hill there is a spot where the road gets REALLY steep (I've clocked almost 52mph down this spot in the past) and there are big oak trees that hang over the road. It was already dark when I came to this spot. To say it was intimidating would be to put it mildly. I just tried to point the bike into the middle of the blackness and gave myself over to fate. It was honestly like what I imagine riding through a black hole would be like. Amazingly I came out the other side and resumed my ride by braille in the waning darkness fervently hoping another car would pass me nice and slow so I could see the road in their headlights for a ways. Then...

It started to rain. Not hard, but enough that I had to squint fiercely to keep the water out of my eyes. I have no experience riding this particular bike in the rain, let alone at @30 mph. Add in the darkness and it was quite the harrowing finish to a quick weeknight ride.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

But I'm going to the bike shop tomorrow to buy a light...