31.8 miles, straight into the doghouse
31.8 miles, of an intended 50+.
The last time I got a flat tire on my bike was during the Reagan administration. I don't think I had my driver's license; my Dad had to come rescue me in the tornado-diminished town of Fandon, Illinois. Naturally, I got that flat at roughly the turn-around point of that ride, some 13 miles from home.
Today, I again flatted near the turn-around point of a ride, this time in Hart, MI. I swear, I looked over the back tire when I left home and thought it looked fine; by the time I was sitting by the roadside trying to fix the flat, cords were showing and air leaked out all over the place. Oh, I was prepared; I had a spare tube, tire levers, and a CO2 inflator with three cartridges. Well, the tire levers worked nicely, and I suppose the CO2 did it's thing, but the spare tube was a bust - the valve core somehow disappeared, apparently IN to the tube, so it held air about as well as a colander holds water. Going back to the old tube, I had no way to find the leak (I did have a pach kit along), so I bought some Slime tire sealant at a hardware store. It is only barely possible to get Slime through a presta valve (which no one outside the world of bike-shop bikes has heard of, and there's no bike shop in Hart, despite it being an otherwise very nice little town right on a bike path); I got maybe an ounce into the tube, squeezing so hard I actually squeezed it right through the threads on the Slime bottle's cap.
Did I mention that my wife had a wedding to photograph later in the afternoon? She was not pleased to have to pack up the kid and come fetch me. At least it's a straight shot on the highway to get to Hart; I was waiting by the end of the exit ramp, and she had plenty of time to get to the wedding. It actually seemed that the slime did more or less seal the tire, so without a time constraint I probably would have made it home.
Dane and I went to Village bike shop (where I got the bike) for it's last warranty tune-up (including truing up the rear wheel, which had a couple-millimeter wobble), a new tire, and a couple of new tubes.
And to think, tomorrow, Coach Mike is going to give us tire-changing lessons. Snort.
The last time I got a flat tire on my bike was during the Reagan administration. I don't think I had my driver's license; my Dad had to come rescue me in the tornado-diminished town of Fandon, Illinois. Naturally, I got that flat at roughly the turn-around point of that ride, some 13 miles from home.
Today, I again flatted near the turn-around point of a ride, this time in Hart, MI. I swear, I looked over the back tire when I left home and thought it looked fine; by the time I was sitting by the roadside trying to fix the flat, cords were showing and air leaked out all over the place. Oh, I was prepared; I had a spare tube, tire levers, and a CO2 inflator with three cartridges. Well, the tire levers worked nicely, and I suppose the CO2 did it's thing, but the spare tube was a bust - the valve core somehow disappeared, apparently IN to the tube, so it held air about as well as a colander holds water. Going back to the old tube, I had no way to find the leak (I did have a pach kit along), so I bought some Slime tire sealant at a hardware store. It is only barely possible to get Slime through a presta valve (which no one outside the world of bike-shop bikes has heard of, and there's no bike shop in Hart, despite it being an otherwise very nice little town right on a bike path); I got maybe an ounce into the tube, squeezing so hard I actually squeezed it right through the threads on the Slime bottle's cap.
Did I mention that my wife had a wedding to photograph later in the afternoon? She was not pleased to have to pack up the kid and come fetch me. At least it's a straight shot on the highway to get to Hart; I was waiting by the end of the exit ramp, and she had plenty of time to get to the wedding. It actually seemed that the slime did more or less seal the tire, so without a time constraint I probably would have made it home.
Dane and I went to Village bike shop (where I got the bike) for it's last warranty tune-up (including truing up the rear wheel, which had a couple-millimeter wobble), a new tire, and a couple of new tubes.
And to think, tomorrow, Coach Mike is going to give us tire-changing lessons. Snort.
posted by did at 9:14 PM
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