I left off the last post with a lumpy tube in my tire and a good guess that it would also be flat when I got back out there. I did some thinking in the afternoon and decided I may need to figure out how to get a ride to a shop to buy a tube or find someone at work that also may have biked in. I decide to hit up the Caribou Coffee to grab some coffee and think about my situation. Miss the first part? Here!

As I was walking to the elevators I ran into a guy I know from Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists that also works in the building. I asked him if he had an extra tube and told him my story. He says, "Yeah, I do, let's go grab it." Yes! So we go out, grab a tube from his bike and head back in, I promise to bring him a new tube on Monday and pray to god that he doesn't get a flat on the way home since this was his only tube. He didn't.

End of the day. Walking out to my bike I can see that the tire is flat. Not low but flat. I remember that West has a mobile repair guy that repairs flats on cars and jump starts them. I replace the smaller tube for the larger one I secured earlier in the day. I walk my bike up to the building and head to the guard desk and ask them to have the guy swing up to the front for an air fill.

When he arrived I walked over to him and showed him my flat. He tells me that he has never filled up a bike tire at West. He asks me how many PSI to put into the tire, I tell him 40. He says okay and it is full in about 2 seconds. I thank him and am on my way.

I get to my Super America turn about 4 miles into the ride and notice that the tire is leaking slowly still. I looked over that whole damn tire and couldn't find anything in there. So I pull up to the SA and run inside and ask them to flip on the compressor. I fill the tire back up. On my way again.

I decide to hit up Hiawatha Cyclery to pick up some tubes and sympathy. Got both, 3 tubes and a little bit of sympathy. :) The tire is holding air better since the SA fill up, so I ride it home. It is running at about 10 PSI when I get home and bring it downstairs.

It goes up on the stand, I eat dinner and go to work. Time to put the commuter slicks on the spare wheel set, the winter wheel set. I pull off the studded tires and hang them up. I pull the slicks off the Bianchi and hang that back up. I pull the tires off my MTB and hang the front up. I pull the flat tire off the back and give it a closer inspection. Nothing that I can see on the outside, so I turn it inside out.

I am running my hand over the inside and feel a little something. I look, don't see anything. Run the hand over again. Ahh, What is that? It looks like a needle or something. I grab the needle nose pliers and try to get a hold of it. Nothing. Umm, try the other side and I get it pulled out. It is literately about this big --> | but 1/2 the thickness.. I hang that tire up, I don't even remount it on the rim, too frustrated. I do however mount the slicks and adjust the brakes on the bike...

I guess we will see how she rides Monday...

Labels: bike, commute, flat

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