TECHNICALLY, there's now a loggable entry for the year 2022 in my annual mileage records.  At just 3.5 miles, 23 minutes, it's not going to set the world on fire but it counts.  The bike was outside, and I was on it.  I left my driveway (twice) and traveled more than zero distance before calling it quits and returning for the day.

It almost didn't happen at all, despite my having felt motivated in mid-morning.  The temperature was in the mid-30s with little wind.  I just didn't feel like another session on the spin bike so I got all suited up, pumped up the tires, emptied and refilled my water bottles, checked a couple details... and found the front tire had gone completely, utterly flat within minutes of having been brought up to operating pressure.  

As I pumped on it, I could hear air escaping as fast as it was being injected.  Clearly there was something significantly wrong.

One of the "joys" of keeping all your kit on your bike is that it makes doing anything with the bike well-nigh impossible, or at least incredibly inconvenient.  Being a lazy sod, I tried a few times to remove the front wheel without first removing the handlebar bag and front panniers.  All that did was dislodge the prototype headlight mount I was so pleased at having made yesterday.  Well alright, I knew it was probably going to need some tuning.

All the extra weight on the front end made it prone to flopping about, which upset the delicate balance- made more precarious by the large, relatively high mass of the tent and panniers still in place on the rear rack.  (One of the accessories I've added is an Esge two-legged kickstand, which raises the back end by several inches when deployed.  It's great when you want to stand the bike up and there's nothing against which to prop it, but when the bike is awkwardly loaded it becomes the fulcrum in a very unevenly-loaded seesaw.  And because one leg is slightly longer than the other, the tail end weight causes the bike to topple quite easily.)

After wrestling with and dumping the bike several times (a number embarrassingly larger than one) I finally conceded and pulled all the front-end load off the bike.  This caused it to rear backward like a stallion itching for a fight.

In the end, in frustration I unloaded the back end too, flinging the bungee cords, tent, and panniers around in a fit of pique and for no good reason.

Having been distracted from the primary task- fixing the flat tire- my focus shifted to stabilizing the headlight mount.  That was a task I was going to have to do anyhow, and since I had the front end cleared off this seemed the time to do it.  A couple failed experiments ultimately led to one I think I can live with, or at least one that can be tested in the field.

Back to the front wheel.  The tire goes on the rim easily enough, but the tire levers I carry on the bike are really crappy and do a terrible job of prying it off the rim.  Expletives were used.

Once the tire was loose and the tube freed, the reason for the flat was clear: the valve stem had partially torn free of the tube, right where it enters. Okay that tube is trash, time for a new one.  I have several, so this was no big deal.  Or so it seemed.

The new tube went in without a problem, but I noticed that it was a "slim line" model designed for 1.375 inch tires.  The tires on the bike are 1.5 inch.  Wellll, rubber's pretty stretchy so they should still work, right?  In went the tube, the tire was re-seated on the rim, and air was applied.

All went well riiiiiiight up to the moment the tire reached full pressure.  Then PSSSSSSSSSssssssssss.... flat again.  Dammit.

Off came the tire, out came the tube.  The leak came from a spot partway around from the valve stem, and right on a seam, so it was patchable.  But, really???  I have to patch a brand-new, never-been-used-before inner tube?  Argh.  At least I'm still in my cozy warm workshop, not out on the side of the road somewhere in near-freezing temperatures.

After checking the inside of the tire and rim to be sure the hole hadn't been caused by some foreign object or sharp edge (I found nothing of the sort), I went ahead and patched it, reinstalled the tube and tire, and inflated to full pressure.  All seemed well enough.

It was only when I went to put the wheel back on the bike that I remembered that even with the brake cable released there isn't enough clearance between the brake blocks to install the wheel when the tire is inflated.  Out went all the air, again- on purpose this time, at least- and on went the wheel, followed in succession by all of the luggage that had been so unceremoniously removed and flung every which way earlier.

The reinstalled front wheel was again reinflated, and everything seemed hunky-dory.  It was finally time to get outside.

By that time the temperature had gotten into the mid-30's (Fahrenheit): brisk, but I have gear for it so let's get going.  Within a minute of pulling out of the driveway it was clear that I needed one more layer on my arms.  Also, the phone mount was too far out to the right and interfered with my right arm in an annoying, awkward, and possibly unsafe way.

Back to the house for arm warmers.  Out with the tool kit to get the special hex wrench to reposition the phone mount two inches to the left.  Everything done and dusted, time to go again.

This time I made it as far as the local business district, all of 1.75 miles from home.  My motivation having largely evaporated with the various pre-ride travails, it was no trouble at all to convince myself that the few itty bitty teeny weeny tiny little snowflakes that were starting to come down were sufficient justification to cut the ride short and get back to my nice warm house.

But, I got out, and I got more than zero miles.  I'm calling it a win.  Qualified, heavily caveated, probably deserving of one or more asterisks in the logbook, but a win nonetheless because it was a ride, outside, in January.

Total distance: 3.5 miles
Total ride time: 23 minutes
Total climbing: 268 feet