April 25, 2007

Another Lesson Learned

I learned another lesson today that will pay dividends come race time.

I had a little more free time today than I do most Wednesdays, so I decided to go for an extra longish ride. I stopped by the LBS and got a couple extra tubes and CO2 cartridges, mixed a couple bottles of Perpetuem, and off I went.

I decided to ride the Hwy 78/119 route, which starts on the Powerman bike course and continues southeast before turning west toward Double Oak Mountain. This happens to be the route I flatted on last time I rode it (without a spare tube) and had to hitch a ride back to town - thus, the extra tubes and cartridges before I left.

Well, at least I can say that this time I was prepared.

I only made it 2 miles from home when - BOOM - the front tire exploded (at about 35 mph I should add - what a rush!). I was actually stoked by the pistol-fire like noise coming from my bike; I mean, if I'm going to flat I'd rather it be with a bang than a whimper like last time. So I rear braked to the side of the road with a great big grin because I was about to change my tire during a ride for the first time. Yea, I know... But I like novelty...

It only took a few minutes to get the new tube in and get the tire seated. I inflated with the CO2 cartridge, but I must have screwed something up somehow because just as the CO2 was almost done - BOOM - another explosion.

This time I wasn't nearly as excited...

So I repeated the motions, put my last tube on, and then started inflating. This time I pulled the cartridge off earlier than I should have to avoid blowing another tire before I could even get back on the bike. This left my front tire with only about 2/3 of necessary pressure, so I decided a long ride today was not going to happen.

I limped the bike back home, and then made a second trip to the LBS for more tubes and cartridges. LBS dude looked at me kinda funny-like, but I didn't let it phase me. I held my "I know what the hell I'm doing" look with perfect form.

I fully inflated and rechecked everything, repacked the extras, and walked outside to try for a short ride. But alas, now there was thunder and the first hints of rain. Sigh...

So my extra long ride became 2 hours on the trainer and then a strength session at the gym.

Oh well.... At least I got to change a couple of tires on the road for the first, but certainly not the last, time. Another small step along this journey to Ironman, and another lesson learned...

Thanks for joining me for My Daily Spin.

7 comments:

Lisa said...

If you want, you can change mine anytime for practice! I've changed so many bike commuting, it's disgusting. Did you ever figure out why it was blowing like that?

rocketpants said...

Ug...that sucks. I had some problems with a similar situation, and it ended up being the tape on the inside of the rim of the tire that was pinching the tire. It's pretty cheap to replace that, you could have your LBS have a look at that and replace it. If the tape is pinching and not completely flat it ends up being sharp it will cause the tube to pop in short order. Good luck with that.

Dances with Corgis said...

Ha... I've been waiting to get a flat for a while. I might have to sabatouge my ride just so I get the chance to change the tire.

Michele said...

I am in the same boat as skirough, waiting on the flat but not really wanting it to happen.
Congrats on the speedy tire changes.

TriGirl 40 said...

Nothing like crossing another tri-lesson of your list. But where were you biking that you hit 35 miles per hour?

Unknown said...

Well, practice makes perfect right? You can get a pretty lightweight pump that attaches to your bike, that is both a CO2 inflator and a regular pump...then when you don't wanna go overboard in case of explosion, you can just pump the tire to full pressure.

After all of that you still got on the trainer for 2 hours. That's dedication.

LoneStarCrank said...

Changing tire -- check. Just another experience accounted for on your journey to iron. I've gotta say, your reaction was a whole lot better than mine usually is. Great job not giving up on the workout despite the adversity.