Even with all of the traffic noise there was no mistaking the sound of air leaving my rear tire. I slowed to a stop raising my right hand to signal the Shimano neutral support car to stop (oh, wait they are busy in Italy and Spain) but they didn’t appear to swap my rear tire. The two other cyclists riding west on the opposite of the causeway didn’t see me either as they away. I made the decision to walk about 7/10 of a mile to The Cedar restaurant to patch the rear tire. Before walking I turned the rear wheel to find the culprit that caused this and found a big screw sticking out of the tire.

The bike ride began at 11:28 AM after I watched the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana races. For a little variety I chose to ride my “Atascocita South – Walden – FM 2100” route which resembles the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route except for not riding north on FM 2100 due to road construction. My bike choice was the Lynskey R300. I thought the ride would be 32 miles long but adding some different streets in the beginning stretched the distance to 34.43 miles. After 2 rides this week I am up to 71.76 miles, heading to another 200 mile week if no interruptions happen.

When I reached The Cedar restaurant to work on the rear tire I found a shady spot in the parking lot. Gathering my tools, pump, and patch kit I removed the rear tire. I pulled the screw out of the tire, used the tire levers to get the tube where the hole(s) were which was just a few inches from the valve stem. Opening the patch kit didn’t encourage me because the tube of glue looked old and bad. Inspecting the tube I found 2 holes on opposite sides of the tube. This made patching them tricky. Roughing up the tube surface at both spots I squeezed some not good looking glue onto the biggest hole spreading it around. Letting the glue dry I applied a patch, pressed it firmly and it looked okay. Repeating the process on the other hole I use a smaller patch. Optimistically I put the tube back in the tire, mounted the tire bead and pumped up the tire. At first it looked like the patches worked but I squeezed the tire and it was not as firm as it was. The only option left was to replace the tube which I did. This went much better and the tire was firm. During this process the right side nut of the thru-axle came loose and fell on the ground. Fortunately it was shinny and easy to find. Not sure why it was so loose.

Back on the road the rear tire had a noticeable thump on each revolution from a previous sidewall cut flat. Also while fixing the flat I found a spot on the rear tire tread surface with thread showing. Later today I will replace the tires on the Lynskey. They lasted 2,566 miles which for OEM tires is pretty good for me. On my Stradalli bike I replaced the original tires just a couple of days after I started riding it because they were too delicate for the roads I bike on.

After the flat the bike ride went as planned until I finished at 3:01 PM.

Thankfully the weather was good for biking with the flat issue. Up to the point of the flat I was riding a quick pace (for me) and my average speed was improving. I built it up to 14.3 mph and stayed there until returning to Kingwood.

Weather conditions: start 85 (72% humidity, 75 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind E 6 mph. Finish 85 (71% humidity, 74.6 dew point), partly cloudy, wind E 13 mph. The tailwind riding back to Kingwood helped get me there quicker. Short sleeve jersey and arm sleeves were just right.

Looking at the ride data from Golden Cheetah lap 4 time ballooned while I worked on the rear tire. 32% of the ride I was in power zones 3 and 4. Zone 5 was 10% which is higher than usual.

Strava registered a “This was harder than your usual effort.”

Only 32 miles left to reach my 615 mile goal for October with 11 potential biking days left.