After all the fun last week, this week could be a drag. I start kinda slow, and Judy didn’t wake me up until almost 6:30 am. I had to rush to get the omelets fixed and her soup for lunch into the thermos before she left. I’m really tired. I guess the altitude in Lhasa (12,000 ft.) wore me down more than I thought. In the pool later, I really struggled. I only missed a week of swimming and my breathing is noticeably strained. I guess it’ll come back. I plan to try and swim everyday this week. We’ll see!

I managed to get a haircut appointment for this afternoon when our ayi arrives. She walks in and I walk out, heading to the bike. I get everything unlocked and loaded ready to ride out, and …………….I’ve got a flat tire?. I locked everything up and headed out to get a taxi. Fortunately, a taxi was waiting, and the traffic wasn’t a problem so I arrived a little early. I’m carrying all my table tennis stuff, planning maybe to go straight to the TT park. I opted to taxi back to the apartment and get the bike fixed. The bike shop where some minor fixes have been done is about a mile away, a long push with a flat tire, so I decided to try the local corner bike repairman. I’ve used his tire pump before, but that’s it.

When I walked up, he took a look at me, grabbed the bike, laid it down and went to work. He took off the tube, found the leak, then showed me the cut on the tire as well, letting me know they needed to be trashed. I agreed and 10 minutes later I was riding to the TT park. Total repair cost, new tire, tube, and labor, was around $13.50.

I rode to the TT park to get in some practice before my lesson. I started off with the little old woman that wore me out a few weeks ago with all the backspin. She did the same thing this time, lots of backspin shots pulling me in close, then suddenly, a smash the other direction, followed by a grin and a giggle. Oh well, she makes my backspin better.

My lesson goes well, I’ve definitely improved. My teacher is beginning to push a little harder, and speed up the ball. It’s a hard hour of concentration and work. Back home later, after the bike ride, I was feeling the “day” of activity.