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I've Got Something to Say
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| Ride Stats |
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Time: 04:01:42
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Distance:
64.18 miles
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Max Speed:
31.10 mph
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Avg Speed:
15.90 mph
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Altitude Gain:
0 ft
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Route:
Tour de Stooges
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Weight:
0
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Category: training: general -
solo
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: Fuji Newest Road
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Club: None |
| Weather Conditions: upper 50's to mid-60's
Wind: ENE5 - cool & crisp most of the day
partly cloudy |
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Just shy of the halfway point of today's ride, I was making a turn and the back felt a little squirrelly. My first thought was I hit a patch of sand/gravel, but I didn't hear that gritty scrapping sound that accompanies such a situation. I then noticed that my rear tire is about 'half' flat. I pull to the side of the road to evaluate the situation, then get back on my bike thinking I could probably make it to the rest stop - a couple miles up the road - but even going straight up the road the bike was feeling squirrelly, so I pulled over to repair the tire. I found a little shard of glass and applied a patch to the puncture, and aired the tire back up using the frame pump. The pump gets me up to about 80 psi – enough to ride on and get me to the rest stop.
At the rest stop I found a floor pump, but was unable to get it to work properly to get air into my tube – even tried with another cyclist’s help; we got his tired aired up, but not mine. So I continued on, with about 80 psi, hoping to find a gas station before the next rest stop. No such luck. When I did reach the rest stop, I asked the worker if he had a pump available. His reply was they (the ride organizers) were supposed to give him one, but he never got it. So onward I go.
I made it back to the start/finish, put the bike on the truck, etc. then headed over to grab some lunch. Upon returning to the truck to head for home, the rear tire of the bike was completely flat. Once I arrived home, I dealt with the rear tire – discovering that the patch didn’t seal completely, so I replaced the tube.
I then proceeded to clean my other bike – the one I’d been fighting tire issues all week, and had a flat rear tire still. Again, I discovered the patch wasn’t holding. After cleaning the bike and feeling the patch had been securely affixed, I put the tube back into the tire, aired it up and put it all back together.
UPDATE: I didn’t get back out to the garage until Sunday evening – upon returning from a jaunt to Cape Girardeau – the rear tire on the Supreme was flat again. I think it needs a new tube. However, I only have one new tube on hand.
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