Ooh, you invoked the flat* jinx after another person's flat. That one landed fast! š
Yes, men love to stop and help fix flats. Once a many years ago I was on a century ride and there was a group of women at a rest stop crowded around a mountain bike, staring forlornly at a very flat front tire. Here comes old Joe Bernard (ok I was younger then), "Need any help? I have tools!" Turns out they didn't know how to use these tools so your intrepid bike mechanic got to work and fixed the tire. They cheered. I'm not kidding, an actual YAY JOE! Imagine how many times I've told this story. There's a 98% chance Leah's already heard it at least once. On Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at 6:57:28 PM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > ļ»æ > This week has been one for the books. Not the good books. > > The Monday Night Ride (MNR) is my favorite. Itās the biggest event of the > riding week and everyone is there. The groups are divided by speed, and not > gender-specific. The radar was wild that evening. A line of thunderstorms > were sure to arrive, but the timing changed by the hour. Marc and I decided > not to chance it and stayed home, but a lot of the riders went. The storm > blew in earlier than expected. My group hit the parking lot as the storm > unleashed torrents of rain, but the 18 mph group was unlucky. They were > caught but rescued by a good Michigander who allowed them to shelter in his > garage. > > Tuesday night is the womenās ride. It was 95 degrees with 280% humidity. I > knew it was probably a dumb idea to go, but I hated to miss BOTH rides, so > I went. I have a built-up tolerance to heat from my years in the West and > Southwest but the others werenāt as lucky. One woman could not handle it. > We had to stop so she could recover and then her rear tire went flat. The > Ride leader, K, said, āI know how to fix flats. Iām not fast at it but I > can do it.ā Nobody else knew what to do, so we stood watched and shared our > mutual dread of flats that we didnāt know how to fix. (Also, this is one of > the glories of the MNR - men love to fix flats, apparently.) > > K was now bruised from the slipped tire lever that hit her wrist. Ants > were crawling on her as she knelt in the grass. Wanting to be helpful, I > took goofy videos and posted them to the Club page while she worked. Also, > I thought it would be a great time to extol the virtues of tubeless tires > (which I have on the Racing Platypus). I told the women they should look > into it. Iād never known how to fix flats and with this handy-dandy new > system, I likely never would! You should look into it, I said. > > As soon as the words left my mouth I knew it. I had jinxed myself. I t > would not be a question of IF Iād get a flat, only a matter of WHEN. > > I didnāt have to wait long. With only 1.5 miles to go I heard the most > awful sound, and it was coming from *my* bike. I dismounted and saw the > longest, ugliest sharp thing sticking through the sidewall of my new > Ultradynamico tires. It was this: > [image: image0.jpeg][image: image1.jpeg] > > The nail head was in the tire tread, but somehow skewered the sidewall, > sharp end sticking outward. The sharp end was hitting into my brake pad, > thus the noise. The nailhead was flush against the tread and I could not > get purchase on it to pull it. Nor could I hit against the sharp end to > push it backward without getting tetanus! > > K arrived and pulled a Leatherman from her bag. As she approached, I > thought, āWait. When patients come to us with impalements, you leave the > object in place until you are in an operating suite and can deal with the > blood loss. If we could just back that nail out a bit to clear the brake > pads as the wheel rotates, the sealant might do its job, leaving me enough > air to get me get back to the car. ā > > But my mind was not quick enough to string my thoughts into sentences. > Before I got them verbalized, K hit the nail with the side of her > Leatherman and backed the nail all the way out of the tire. > > The sealant was no match for that - the skewered tire immediately went > flat. The useless sealant pooled on the pavement, making a fool of me. I > pulled out my Dynaplug but could not force the plug through the punctures > and especially since I had no air in the tire. The holes were big enough > that I couldnāt see my little Lezyne pump inflating the tire fast enough. > [image: image2.jpeg] > > The mouthy, flat-protected Platypus Rider was sidelined. > > By a *flat*. > > I had it coming, really. I admit annoyance with the woman who held us up > and then flatted. Forced to run alongside my bike for the next mile, I was > adequately punished. Youāll remember how hot it was. I told the other women > to go without me, Iād be fine with my Vegas conditioning and all. š > > After work today I took the defeated Racing Platypus to the bike shop and > had them inspect the tire. I have had these new Ultradynamico Cava Race > tires ONE WEEK. I hoped the tire was salvageable. Hereās where my second > humiliation occurs. > > The mechanic put the bike in the stand, inflated the tire and lo and > behold, the remaining sealant had done its job. The tire held. No air > leaks. All we had to do was refresh the sealant and the air and call it > good. The mechanic was surprised that the sealant worked when the bead was > off the tire (or whatever) all night. The tubeless-loving Platypus Rider > should have inflated her own tires and discovered this herself but like > always, she went running to the shop howling about her disabled Platypus. > But, it is FIXED and now in service. > > So, Iām back to extolling the virtues of tubeless to anyone who will > listen, which will set me up nicely for another flat on the Friday ride. > > Leah > > On Jun 12, 2022, at 6:42 AM, Ed Fausto <emfa...@gmail.com> wrote: > > ļ»æ > > Hi Evan, > > I could not agree more! :-) > This is the first thread I open everyday! > > Edgar from Manila, Philippines > (Cheviot, Gus, Atlantis) > > On Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 3:07:03 AM UTC+8 Evan E. wrote: > >> Racing Platypus. Upright handlebars. Safety triangle on a belt. Thousand >> helmet. 16-19mph. She is . . . the most interesting person on this list. >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/EICfswhTsI8/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0ffd44d0-9ccd-41cb-83eb-38a9275dd0d0n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0ffd44d0-9ccd-41cb-83eb-38a9275dd0d0n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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