I was surprised when Mike texted me last night saying he wanted to ride today, because he rode back-and-forth to work yesterday for a total of 50 miles! The man is as strong as a country ox.
Planning to do my new 25 mile bike path loop with our road bikes, we met at civil twilight (4:55 AM) this morning at the North Table Mountain parking lot.
It was a really warm morning, 55 degrees with no wind and the forecast called for 82 later in the day.
Shortly into our ride we heard a loud POP! Mike's rear tire had a blowout.
We had everything we needed to fix it and the picture above shows Mike changing the tube.
Like good boy scouts, we took assessment of the situation. We were 1.2 miles into a 25 mile ride, we just used our only spare tube, and both of us left our wallets in our cars.
We decided that it was prudent for us to go back to the cars and get our wallets, just in case we could buy a spare tube along the way (good luck at this time of day), or had more problems.
It was a good decision, because when we got back to the cars, POP! The same tire blew out again.
I could tell Mike was pissed, and although I immediately saw humor in the situation, now was not the time to joke.
We both took another good look at the tire, inside and out, and along the sides, looking for a thorn or sticker.
Alas! We found a 1/2 inch tear along the tire's sidewall, which when under high pressure (110 psi) the tube pushes a hernia-like bubble through the tear and bursts.
Upon reflection, Mike theorized that he probably tore the tire riding a flat in the beginning of the week.
Mike is one to see the silver lining in any cloud. Later he told me how lucky he was that it happened when we were just cruising along having a conversation. It could have easily happened during one of his 30 MPH rides down Lookout Mountain!
We salvaged the day by going back to my house and fitting Fat Bike Mike up with a different fat bike.
Soon we headed out for a total of 41.8 more miles!
Later,
Steve
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