The machine couldn't keep up with the man! Some tires like the bontragers where the tread is pieced together to the sidewall will eventually bulge and separate. Happened to me several times and just happened to susan's bike Saturday. It has a bulge but luckily stayed together. Which reminds me, gotta get some tires.
Sent from Tim's iPod On Jun 27, 2011, at 8:24 AM, Ronnie Raper <[email protected]> wrote: > No idea what I ran over. The "weird" thing I was talking about was a "bump" I > felt each revolution. Thought something stuck to tire. When I stopped after > the blowout, the tread on either side of the hole was noticeably thin > compared to the rest of the tire. Sidewalls were intact with no signs of any > damage. Perhaps a "ridge" in the pavement at the turn caused the wheel to > slip and "flat-spot" it, though I don't recall feeling the rear wheel shimmy > at all. Chalk it up to fate I guess. Maybe next year, tame snake and not have > any blowouts. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeff Glover > Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2011 10:47 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [COWs] 2011 BSG > > Good job Ronnie! You made your goal and clearly had the rest in hand. Nice > job improvising and doing as best as you could. Any clue what you hit? > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2011 10:12 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [COWs] 2011 BSG > > We arrived in Boone Friday around noon. Winds were 10 - 15 gusting to 25 out > from WSW. The direction doesn't really matter in the mountains tho as the > topography and elevation can cause the wind to come from any direction. We > went to Grandfather Mountain for the afternoon. At the top the wind was > blowing 40 - 50 gusting to 60. All the while I'm thinking I hope the wind > isn't this bad tomorrow at any elevation. > > Saturday am I arrived at the start line around 6:45. Met up with Eddie, Tim > and Winslow from RM. Weather was perfect at the time. 60 degrees light > breeze, no humidity. This year they split the start - 100 milers first, 50 > milers 30 mins later. This helped a lot with the crowding at the start line. > We head out, the four us staying together, but that didn't last long. Eddie > and I lost Tim & Winslow going up 105, possibly due to crowding. Eddie and I > climbed into Blowing Rock (6 - 7% grade for about 6 miles). BTW I took my > triple up for the ride (30-42-53 crank and 12-26 cassette). Climbed to the > parkway and the wind started picking up a bit. It's downhill all the way to > the other side of Boone with a few "rolls" thrown in, but wasn't able to hit > 50 mph this go around due to the "breeze". With the first "big climb" out of > the way, and the first rest/aid stop at mile 25, the next 35 miles are just > "rolls" and a 2 mile climb on 194. This brings the ride to the base of Snake > Mtn. We were averaging just under 17mph at this point. Eddie has moved on as > he has less mass and could climb at a faster pace than I wanted. It was a > good thing too as I'll get to in a bit. > > After emptying a bottle i start up the road with cross winds blowing. No 18 > mph on the "flat" portion this year. Caught up with this other guy and we > "cruised" together to the first "up-tick" in slope. (This climb is concave - > steeper as you go). We stay together, chit-chatting which helped pass the > time and mountain away. The serious climb started at the 3.5 mile mark with > 3.5 more to go - roughly 10 - 12% or so. Legs are still feeling pretty good. > My single goal is to not walk the switchback (18 - 22%). Looking up I see > the switchback and I'm still on the bike (yeah!) Down to my 30/26, no gear > left, rolling at 3 - 4 mph, Passing a dozen or more walkers. Hit the outside > of the switchback and down comes a car (yikes!). she stops, not annoyed and > says the top is just around the corner (very encouraging!) Make it to the > second half of the switchback and the worst is over. (Heart rate finally > hits 167). Goal met. > > The backside was the most dicey part of the route with gravel at the bottom. > One other "climb" to the state line then downhill to 421. Turn onto 421 and > something weird is going on with rear tire. Before I could stop to > investigate, pow! it blows (mile 70). tread missng, cords showing, a couple > frayed. Don't know what I ran over. Tim shows up at this point and stops. > Booted the tire, replace tube and continue on hoping to make the last 30 but > deep down knowing I probably won't with that tire. He and I ride to the next > station at mile 80 keeping it under 25 mph. Boot holding so far. Tim refills > and continues on. I "pit-stop" so i'm solo at this point. I continue on the > the last "major" climb - George's Gap Rd. Make the climb and start on the > switch-back filled downhill. At mile 86 on the downhill and going 25 or so, > pow! Tire blows again. Maintained control of the bike and didn't crash or > damage wheel. Started walking back up the mtn to the refill station at the > gap. No "supply wagons" to replace the tire so I'm out. (I only had three > more "rolls" to the finish anyway).The "hole" is now the size of a dime. The > bad thing was i was ahead of my time from last year by at least 15 mins. > Called my wife (Colleen) to get the SAG number and remembered Eddie was > ahead of me, so I called him as well. (No SAG number on the cue sheet). They > got the folks to scramble a SAG wagon in the area to pick me up. > > It was a good ride up until the tire blew, but my goal was achieved: riding > up Snake. > > Ronnie > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. 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