I thought I was prepared, I really did. A little back story first...I have been riding my bike into work for the last few days. I have been really enjoying it for the most part. The first half of my ride takes me through my neighborhood, Minnehaha Park, Fort Snelling and across the Mendota Bridge over the river. The second half isn't quite as scenic. It is a ride along and on 55 and 149. Traffic on my left going 55mph+ but it does have a pretty good shoulder for the most part and everyone has been giving me a ton of room.

The ride is about 10 miles each way and takes me about 40-45 minutes on my mountain bike, 35 if I really push it. Well this morning I took off a few minutes later than I have been since it was a little chillier this morning but there wasn't any wind so I waited until it went up a few degrees. The first half of my ride was beautiful as usual and went by pretty quick even though I was taking it pretty slow enjoying the ride.



The second half was far less enjoyable...In fact, it sucked. As I am riding down 55 I noticed the rear tire was getting a little mushy so I kept riding until I found a little business park to pull into. I pull in, get on the grass and give the tire a squeeze. ppppssssssstttttthhhhhhh......fuck. No big deal, I am good at changing flats, I can do it in a few minutes at the most. So I reach into the bag to grab my C02 pump and hook it up to my valve and give it a blast. ppppsssstthhhh...fuck. Alright, I have another C02 cylinder in here....fuck. No I don't. Well I guess I get to push my bike through the business parks to Quik Trip where there is a free air station. Sweet, it is only about a half of a mile or so...wait, no, it was .75.

I get to Quik Trip, pull up to the air pump and get my spare tube out. I look at it, and it looks a little skinny...oh shit. Wrong tube, it is a 27x1.5 and my mtb is a 26x2.20...for you non bikey folk out there that means that it is too big around and too narrow. Fuck it. I don't want to walk the other 2 miles to work. So I shove the tube in there and fill it up. It is a little lumpy and really slushy as the tire moves in corners when the tube does not. It gets me to work and I have learned some good lessons...I am bringing a better pump and looking at what tube I am carrying as a spare...

Route: Google Map

Labels: bike, commute, flat, fuck