ejapplegate

Yes, I know. It is really not much of an accomplishment. But for me it was quite a triumph.

I set out for a nice 40 mile ride this morning. As I was assembling everything, I could not find my tire levers (having swapped handlebar bag for seat bag the previous weekend ride). "No problem" I thought. What are the odds. Today, they were 100%.

I was cruising along, coming up on a radar speed sign. As I tried to go faster, I heard a strange noise coming from the rear tire. And then a very loud POP. I managed to come to a full and complete stop, even remembering to un-clip. A woman walking her dog was very alarmed. I told her (in my best "all under control" voice) it was just a flat.

After cursing my stupidity for not finding the tire levers before setting out, I decided to make the best of it and, rather than calling home for an embarrassing pickup, I would make the best of a bad situation, and use it as a learning experience.

I managed to get the wheel off (something I had practiced before) and inspected the tire and tube. The tire seemed fine, no sharp objects or anything like that. But the tube had a large (4"-6") rip, apparently along a seam. Good thing I had the foresight to be packing a spare tube. There was no way to patch something like this.

I put the tube on and gave it a tiny shot of air from the CO2 pump (another bit of foresight), and then tried to put the tire on. I could almost get it all the way on, but without the tire levers, it was just not going to happen. Of course, earlier in the my ride, I had encountered several other cyclists, who I am sure might have had a tire lever. However, at this point, I was all alone.

I didn't think my driver's license or i-phone would work as an alternate lever. So in desperation, I used one of the allen wrenches I carried in my meager tool kit. Being very careful not to damage the tube, I managed to get the tire all the way on. Success!

I finished pumping up the tire, reattached the wheel (and the rear brake), and I was on my way.

I ended up not following my originally planned ride, but had a good time nonetheless.

The moral of the story for me was two-fold:

- Always bring all the tools you might need
- Don't let some simple road-side repairs get in the way of a good day's ride.