How not to ride a bike

This past weekend was another Houston training weekend, and on schedule was a long ride on Saturday. The plan was to get up and head over to a 65 mile scheduled ride with a group training for the MS150. I got up at 5, packed the car and started my hour drive. My mom had been nice enough to print off the directions and walk me through them so i wouldnt get lost. When I got there, I drove around this tiny town for an hour and couldnt find ANYONE! There are normally a few thousand that do these rides, so it should have been easy to spot, especially since I saw the school where we were supposed to meet. I didnt even see anyone with a bike on their car. After an hour I decided to cut my losses and head back home to do a ride on my normal route. I got in about 20 miles when I started to hear a really loud clicking noise. I kept stopping and getting off to check my back wheel but couldnt find anything. Then another guy stopped me and tried to find what was wrong and he thought it was the beamer, and was worried my back wheel would lock up on me mid ride. I decided to get first in line to the store and see if they could quickly look at it. On my way over to the store I heard a pop and hiss. Yes, I had gotten my first flat on my new bike. At least I was on my way into the shop and they could fix that as well. After about 30 minutes and taking apart my bike, the tech said that he needed more time but that it would be safe to ride for the day. They know me well there and know that I only come in town to train on the bike and losing a day on the bike is sort of an issue for me.
So I went back out into temps that dropped quite a bit since the morning, and got in another 22 miles. All of a sudden the sky opened up and it started to pour. I wanted to wait it out a bit, but after about 20 minutes and no sign of letting up I carefully rode home. When I walked in the door I immediately had a breakdown. i was so frustrated that I couldnt ride, and that I came in town specifically to get time on the bike, and it just wasnt working out for me. I had been trying to ride for the past 8 hours and only got in 42 miles. Sensing that things could get ugly quickly, my mom decided to take me to the gym so i could finish the bike there. After a few emails from coach I felt better and realized that these things happen and I have to move on from them. Also, better on a training day than in the race.
Sunday fared way way better. I had 13 miles to do. I went out and basically tried to push the pace until I blew up or puked. Neither happend (although I almost puked a few times) and I hit a 13 mile run with 8:41 pace. Way faster than any race I have ever done that distance. So a much needed confidence boost from the day before.