Mon Pneu est Plat

October 6, 2010 · by · in On the Road

This is one of the few expressions I have managed to retain from some 13-odd years of French class. It means “my tire is flat”. It’s amazing how quickly you loose any aptitude for a learned language, and how quickly it can return with a little practice, or if you happen to be piss drunk. In fact, after a couple of glasses of Bordeaux I am practically Edith Piaf, but with a boozy American accent.

Lovely sunset ride this evening, uneventful but for an epic (yes epic) flat tire suffered by our local news celebrity Chris Harrington. The tire blew with such force that it was torn to shreds, rendering the bike completely un-operational.

Complete and epic tire failure!
A quick call to Esther’s house, thanks to the where-with-all and cell phone of a passing cute young jogger, and the Gergeley boys were on the way. 
“We have a situation boys. The Eagle has landed. Repeat.. The Eagle has landed.”

Unfortunately this meant Chris could not continue on the ride, in spite of Scott’s attempt to negotiate a temporary bike trade with the cute young jogger who mentioned that not only did she live close by, but that there were road bikes there.

Tabernac! Mon pneu est plat!
Have to say it was a tad embarrassing to have 5 riders out and not a single phone among us. Thankfully for us, the young jet set wouldn’t be caught dead with at least one cell phone on their persons at all times.
Riding off into the sunset.
Our evening rides are ending now in almost complete darkness, and I know the end is near. God knows what I’ll write about with a good 5.5 months of indoor training ahead. Maybe I’ll redecorate my Suffer Den. Or maybe I’ll just brush up on my French.