Meltdown Madness

Somerville, Mass - Well the second leg of the Tour d'Afrique is officially completed. My teammates David and Quentin arrived in Addis Ababa. Quentin amazed everybody by coming in second place in the time trial - this is not expected of the sectional riders! And David posted an entertaining and inspiring blog about his adventures (read it here). David and Quentin have passed the virtual baton to Carlo and Jim, who are currently riding a section called Meltdown Madness - scary - from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.
Back in Somerville, I am having my own fair share of riding adventures. Last week, I got three flat tires in one week. My riding buddy commented that I was having bad karma, but I think it should be called "bad bike-ma".
Sorry, I've been dying to share that joke.
Anyway, I got the first one when I was about 15 miles from home, riding by myself (which is a rare occasion) and Jerry was out of town. It was the middle of the day on a Friday, when most respectable people are at work. So I sucked it up and called a taxi cab, which took me and my bike home for $60. Which is a tax write-off, since I am writing about it right now. I found out later I had a staple in my tire.
The very next day, I had not yet fixed flat #1, so I was riding my other bike, which got flat #2 when I went over a pothole. This time, I was riding with friends, who provided the tube, pump and expertise needed to change the tire, so I could actually continue riding.
Two days later, it happened again. Flat #3. Same scene, except at least I was carrying an extra tube. But I still didn't know how to fix it myself. Embarrassing.
This all happened in the week leading up to the first day of a bicycle maintace course that I signed up to take at my local bike shop, Broadway Bicycles. Honestly, I signed up two months ago. It was just a coincidence that I got three tires in the week before. And what do you think we did in the first class? That's right, we learned how to change a flat tire. I was the only one who actually came to class with a flat tire. I was really prepared.
So now I know how to fix a flat. Which is a good thing, because when I signed up for the Tour d'Afrique I told them that I know how to do that. And now I do.
In other milestones, I am very close to reaching my fundraising goal for BEN-Namibia ($2800 and counting!). I had an article published in Wheel People, the monthly newsletter of the Charles River Wheelmen. I knew that my fellow riders would be a receptive audience for this worthy cause, and they did not disappoint. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated! The generosity of my family and friends (and a few strangers) inspires me to keep riding.

In our society, we tend to think about bikes as a means of recreation. But in rural Namibia, people depend on bikes to get to work, to get to school and even to get treatment for life-threatening illnesses like HIV/AIDS. I am supporting BEN in hopes of providing more bikes to more people in Namibia - a simple and straightforward way to increase access to employment, education and healthcare.

So if you have not already done so, please click here to make a donation. Just because I have reached my goal is no reason NOT to give. Your donation will still go directly to BEN-Namibia.

Your generosity could give somebody a job. Or allow somebody to go to school. Or even save a life.