Mechanical! A riding day with many twists and turns. I started the day thinking I was going to ride with Scott all day. Jake, Bart and Ted took off and I stayed with Scott. But, at mile 9, Scott had a flat....and Mike was right there in the mechanic's van....so I took off to see if I could catch the others. At mile 11, I found Ted as he had a flat too! I continue riding and finally catch Jake and Bart, and we three continue riding....but at mile 19, Jake had a flat! Wow. The issue was that it was NOT raining, but had rained earlier, and with wet tires, rocks and glass stick longer to the tire than when it is dry....increasing the probability of one of the rocks causing a flat. Bart and I continue on....and are the first at the mile 36 SAG and also first at the mile 76 lunch. Leaving lunch first with only 45 miles to the hotel, Bart and I started thinking about a stage win! We are riding hard with very wet roads and both Bart and me as well as our bikes are splattered with mud and water flying off our tires. With only 30 miles to go we are going great....victory is within reach and we will not open the champagne bottle too early like we did last time. But as I reach the top of a hill, my back wheel feels wobbly, and....DISASTER....I have a flat!!! I tell Bart to carry on and win a stage victory for us! So I have another flat tire....and I ended up changing the tire completely by myself as the mechanics van was not close.....but it took me 30 minutes to fix my flat rather than only 10 minutes by someone who was skilled. While changing my flat, seven riders passed me by. But I took pleasure in fixing the flat myself....small victories count. Much later when I arrived at the hotel, I see Bart....and YES, he did win stage 30 by only a few minutes. It is the first stage win by any of us "early starters" and we were proud of Bart. And if only I had not had my mechanical issue,,,