Two States, Two Flats...

Well, it would appear that I'm now an "official" cyclist...as of last Saturday, I've now experienced the "fun" of a flat tire (two, actually) while out on a ride. Unfortunately, my tire-changing skills clearly leave a little to be desired, so I actually punctured the new tube I put on as well, hence the two flat tires...but it's all good in the end.

Erin and I decided to ride together on Saturday, and since she lives in the far northern 'burbs and has easier access to county highways and less traffic, we opted to meet by her place. We headed north and ended up crossing the cheddar curtain into Wisconsin about 10 miles in...which is where my fun began. We stopped to regroup just after crossing the border, and when we got going again, I noticed my ride wasn't as smooth as it had been. I tried to check my tires from my saddle--the back tire looked a little low, but it didn't seem too bad...until about another mile in, when I pulled over to discover it was completely flat. Of course it had to be the back tire...nothing is quite as fun as dealing with the whole chain thing, especially when you're fairly inept at bike mechanics like I am.

I got the wheel off and set about trying to get the tire off--Erin was a trooper and didn't laugh too hard as my tire levers flew everywhere and I made up new swear words along side of the road. I thought the tube, etc. was still in good condition, so I put the tire back on and had my first experience with my CO2 cartridge pump--worked like a champ. We set out again (this time headed back to Illinois just in case something else happened)...and we had just crossed the border when I again realized my @#$%! back tire was flat again. This time, I changed the tube, put the tire back on, and inflated it with my second CO2 cartridge (I happened to have two by some random stroke of luck)...only to hear the air whooshing out of my tire shortly thereafter. So, Erin took off to get her car and come back and pick me up--I sat by the side of the road and wrestled with my tire levers once again, to no avail. So, my ride (and, sadly, Erin's, too) was cut drastically short--but yet I didn't really lose my cool, for which I'm both thankful and actually rather happy about as I'm prone to getting stressed over things like this.

When I finally had the chance to look at the tubes and my tire, I was able to figure out (I think) what I did wrong...I think I actually pinched both tubes with my tire levers when I was putting the tire back on, a fact that I remedied last night by slightly inflating the tube before putting the tire on. I've been swapping out my back tire between a crappy tire for my trainer and a good road tire--my guess is pinch #1 happened Friday night when I was getting Tack ready to hit the road on Saturday. Pinch #2 was probably just an unfortunate occurrence made worse by my hurried repair along the Wisconsin roadside, but at least now I know how to reduce the risk of that happening again.

I did, however, stock up on CO2 cartridges and a couple more spare tubes...seemed like the prudent thing to do...

And, as far as the missed mileage and workout are concerned, I figure it's the first significant workout I've missed so far, and it was even a step-back week...so in the end it's all good...and now Tack has two properly inflated tires and is ready to go for this weekend...