Walking out

An interesting walk out today. I went for a little road ride in the late afternoon, just to stretch my legs, I told myself. Of course as soon as the road turned up and that LCD Sounsystem song I like came on the headphones I started riding like I was Pantani on the Col de Galibier. By the time I hit the top I was deep in oxygen debt and my judgement must have been impaired. I thought "I'll just head down this little gravel road for a ways, I'm pretty sure it connects up with a paved road in less than a mile", of course it got steep and soon I was going fast, having fun, bunny hopping storm debris, mooing at cows, etc. About 2 miles later I hit pavement, thinking "I made it", only to feel both tires get softer as I coasted along. Two flats. No problem, I thought, I always carry at least two tubes in my tool bag plus a patch kit. I pulled over to a conveniently placed boulder and unloaded, pump, tire levers, uh-oh where are the tubes...oh yeah, I gave them away last weekend and neglected to replace them. Open the patch kit...no glue. I must have swiped it for the other patch kit in my other backpack. Idiot.
I was a little pissed at my lack of preparedness but quickly got over it and had a mostly enjoyable 5 mile walk home. The only bad part was the shoes. If I had been rocking New Balance or Saucony, no problem, but tight fitting Sidis with metals bits bolted to the bottom proved to be less than ideal. Once I got into the walking though I started to really enjoy it. I saw all kinds of things I had missed when driving or biking. Several new views, though I still haven't found a good view of my house, there's always a hill or tree in the way. Wildlife : A deer, various hawks, various rodents, one barking dog, four cows. Dead : a large beetle, two frogs, scrub jay, squirrel (yes!)
I got passed by quite a few cars but no one stopped to ask if I needed help. Maybe I was striding confidently or something. Maybe people are just dicks. If a slow moving farm truck had been going my way I might have stuck a thumb out and offered 5 bucks for a ride but it was all sedans and luxury SUVs. One guy did stop when I was almost home, he was headed East over the Eola hills and wondering if he was going the right direction for Willamina. I was tempted to give him the old "keep going, you can't miss it" but gave him the straight dope instead. As I cut a diagonal through the Farmer family filbert orchard my watch said 94 minutes, not too bad. Natty was installed in her favorite corner of the green leather couch, I'm not sure she knew I was gone.