It isn’t often that I do not complete a ride but today was one of those days! The weather was perfect with those clear blue skies again and a calm wind. The temperature 85 degrees at the start and the same when I was stopped. I was riding along the route at a good pace with an average speed above 15.0 mph (actually 15.5 according to RideWithGPS.com calculations). I turned south at around the 17 mile point and headed to Stroker Road. All was good as I turned on FM2100 and rode about 1/2 a mile when I ran over something sharp and instantly my rear tire was flat just like last Saturday. Fortunately I was just across the road from a Shell station so I walked over there to inspect the tire and patch it. Looking at the tire there was a new slit not far from the slit from last Saturday. It looked like I would need to put a boot in the tire to get me home. Removing the tube I easily found the hole and patched it. The boot from the previous slit was cracking so I knew it was not going to last long but I tore it in half and put into the new slit. Pumping up the tire everything was looking good. While I was working on this there two men talking about their Jeep Rubicons and since I am a Jeep owner I noticed their nice looking Jeep 4 door models with lift and mag rims.
With the tire fixed I headed out to get back home. Being hungry I stopped at an Exxon station not too far along and ate. Leaving there on FM2100 north I was again setting a nice pace when I approached the railroad tracks where FM2100 crosses FM1960 and all of a sudden I hear the hiss of air and the rear tire goes flat again. This is not getting to be a fun ride. There was a Chevron station at this point so I walked there to begin fixing this problem. Looking at the rear tire I do not see a problem until I get the tube out and inspect the inside of the tire. Low and behold is the thinnest 1″ nail I have seen. I pull this out of the tire and then look at the tube for a hole. Finding it I patch and put the tube back in the tire and onto the rim. When I pump it up the tire stays inflated fr a couple of minutes and goes flat again. About this time one of the guys in the Jeep Rubicon drives up and mentions seeing me at the Shell station. I agree and he asks if I have what it takes to get going again. I tell him yes and he asks where I am going. I respond Kingwood which is about 11 miles away. So he leaves and I work on the tube again by removing my just applied patch thinking it was not covering the hole and put on another one. Checking the tube before putting it into the tire it still leaks so I look around the patch and find another hole where the nail went through. It is too close to patch so I get my spare tube out of the seat bag and since it has never been used I put it in and the tire on the rim and pump it up.
The tire goes flat within a few seconds so I am thinking there might be another nail but there isn’t. Looking at this new tube the rubber where the valve stem is attached has a crack and the air goes out quickly. This cannot be patched because of the stem. With all of my options gone I reach for the ultimate reserve, my cell phone and call my wife for the rescue. She arrives in about 30 minutes and back home we go. during all of this several people offered a lift but since I thought I had it under control I declined.
Yesterday I had checked my spare parts and thought I just had one tube left with the spare Hutchinson Fusion 2 tire but I found that I had two tubes so I put one in the seat bag and the new tire and tube on the rim. I am back in business so tomorrow’s ride should go as planned.
October miles are now up to 380.87 and year to date I have ridden 4622.21 miles. This week’s miles are 170.74. Maybe I will get to 200 on tomorrow’s ride.
10-15-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route Map
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10-15-2011 Home Weather End
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