Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sometimes yer a playa, sometimes ya get played

Today's ride was definitely one of those rides on which everything seems to go wrong. Mostly I blame Chris, since Dr. Oishi hit me up this morning for a mid-afternoon ride, and as I haven't done any riding lately (other than the couch), I succumbed to his peer pressure. (He really had to twist my arm, I promise.) Excited to hit the trail, we loaded up our matching big-wheeled bikes and headed to Beaverdam.

Not two minutes into the ride my tube came popping out of my back tire like the top button after Thanksgiving turkey. Unlike last time, this time the tube got caught up in the chain and punctured. We stopped for a quick tube swap only for the valve stem of the spare to pull out. Since I wasn't carrying a spare tube we were forced to patch tube number one, by which time the mosquitoes had located us and were enjoying a stationary meal.

Eventually we got things back together and headed out to finish (or really start) the ride. Undaunted by my earlier mishap I threw myself off the high side of a log ride, and then somehow sustained yet another flat toward the end of the loop. Not wanting to stop and patch the tube again I yelled at Chris to punch it and I rode out an ever-flattening tube. By weighting the front of the bike and thinking light thoughts I limped back to the parking lot.

Like I said, it was just one of those rides. Luckily Chris was a good sport about it, so there are no hard feelings. (I don't think.)

Actually, the high point of the ride was probably our discussion of some upcoming tomfoolery, as well as the possibility of getting a team vehicle. Stay tuned for updates.

7 comments:

Korps said...

Are you still riding the 26" tubes on your two niner? Just thinking out loud.

DukePirate said...

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, it just depends on what I have lying around. I think the one that blew this time was a 26", but I've got a 29" up front and that one blew out a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I'm not liking it too much at the moment.

jd said...

sounds like your tire bead is too loose. might want to try a different set or some thick 29 tubes.

jd said...

also we'll have to swap a TDI engine into the camino once gas hits 5 per gallon. it'll be all show, no go but we can still use a fart pipe muffler to make it sound tough.

DukePirate said...

There are a couple of older hearses for sale on craigslist now that would make great team vehicles, too. Talk about rolling up and putting the fear of gawd into the competition.

co2cycle said...

dag! not only do i get clowned on the blog, but i find myself with a flat tire this morning. i remember hitting a rock hard, but it held air pretty well. the thing is, this is the second time this has happened. in any event, i was wondering if rigid forks increase the likelihood of flatting.

DukePirate said...

How ya like me know? I've got some mad voodoo!