I had planned to do a 35-40 mile ride today. That was the plan. So I got up this morning and ate a light breakfast, then I went outside. Damn. Windy. Well, I'll put my shallow front wheel on instead. I normally run 80/80 on my Shiv but I do have a 35mm front just for windy days. The 80 up front can really push the bike around in significant crosswinds.

Grabbed the 35 but it was flat. Crap. I'm running tubeless on the Shiv and the 35 is tubeless "capable" but not necessarily tubeless ready. I've noticed that it seems to only hold air for 2-3 days before it gets noticeably soft. I haven't run the wheel in probably 3 weeks so it was pretty well flat. OK, so I top it off with 95psi and pop it on the front of the Shiv. Off I go.

About 5 miles into the ride I notice the front feels soft. I stop and check and sure enough, it's almost flat. My guess is that it sat long enough with no air that the sealant dried out. Since I wasn't that far, I limp it back home and swap the 80 back up front. I'll get pushed around in the crosswind, but I'll just deal with it. I also make sure that's topped off to 95psi just in case, and once again, off I go.

I get about 5 or 6 miles into the ride and between fighting the headwind/crosswind and just feeling blah I start to wonder if the cycling gods are trying to tell me something. I have no idea why but I just felt flat myself. No energy, no motivation. Then it seemed like all of a sudden, I started hitting every golf ball size rock on the road. Where I live, a lot of people ride ATVs or dirt bikes on the shoulder. Invariably, they kick up rocks from the dirt onto the shoulder. And it felt like I was a magnet for them today. I hit one hard enough I stopped to check and make sure I didn't damage the rim. At that point, I felt discretion was the better part of valor and called it. I made the shortest loop of my known riding routes and headed home. Ended up totaling just 25 miles, including the first stretch of the soft tire.

I feel like I'm coming up short on my goals, but it was just one of those days when it felt like someone or something was telling me not to push my luck.