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| Rainbow 200k rider's meeting |
I had just come off a 77 km/h down hill that was interrupted by a stoplight. A half mile later I started feeling the familiar squirm of a soft tire. I was someplace in the San Marcos area and I wanted to find a nice grassy spot to pull over and take care of the tire. The flat wouldn't wait so I stopped on a grassy hillside next to a freeway interchange.
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| Flat repair #1 |
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| Flat repair #2 |
I couldn't find anything stuck in the tire. I had also forgotten which way the tube was oriented in the tire, you've got two choices you know, so I wasn't sure which position on the tire, about 60 degrees away from the valve stem, held the hidden object that was causing the flat. I suspected it was a tire wire, one of those fine steel wires from a steel belted radial blowout. Those will go through any bike tire and can be devilishly hard to find. I put the tube back in hoping the patch being thicker than a tube would hold off the tire wire and put a boot in the position on the opposite side of the valve stem. Back on the road and riding with the sensitivity of the princess in the Princess and the Pea I found the tire slowly flatting as I rolled into control #3. It was good there. Jaime had brought a tire pump along and I made use of it and found and repaired another small hole. I still couldn't find anything stuck in the tire. At this point it occurred to me that I might actually DNF a 200k because I'd either run out of tubes or patches which I found a little funny. I also strained a quadriceps kicking myself in the ass for not carrying a spare tire along. Did I mention that I had noticed that the rear tire was corded in a couple places? That gave me some pause and I considered swapping it to the front to conserve it for the remainder of the ride and to make future repairs more appealing. Front tires have glacial wear rates, however wear at the rear is easily discernible, particularly if you are doing a lot of climbing. I decided to let things be and moved on. From the control I headed over to the AM/PM where I ran directly into on of those aggregate concrete waste receptacles because I'd forgotten to close the quick release on my rear brake after installing the wheel. If you've seen me on the road recently, you'll know that I'm riding a beautiful Waterford that is pretty new. I ride my bikes pretty hard so I knew Estelle (the Waterford) would begin to show some wear.
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| I think that'll buff out. |
I just wasn't expecting the "wear" to happen so soon in such an inauspicious manner: a collision with trash can in broad daylight, completely sober! I recovered and after mentally letting out one of Jerry Stiller's "serenity NOW!" screams I went in to the AM/PM, got my Gatorade, filled my bottles, and took off.
The climbs up Old Castle, Lilac, Crouser, and Rice were enjoyable and uneventful: the tire held through it all. I really enjoyed bombing down the backside of Crouser. The water in the road was no sweat, it just added to my enjoyment of a technical descent. Really.
At control four Tom and Tina Reynolds where there with soup and homemade bread. A few other riders were milling around as was my buddy John Hillard who had somehow wandered into the area but wasn't riding the 200k that day.
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| John, Jesus of the Control. |
The soup was a treat that I enjoyed but I had been thinking about a tuna salad sandwich on the flat road into Rainbow so I satisfied that urge and gulped a chocolate milk and a V8 while I was at it. The tire was still holding, two patches and a boot so I didn't mess with it and rolled out.
As I rolled down Live Oak Park Rd. I began noticing that squishy tire feeling and pulled off into a nice wide driveway to make repairs. Upon disassembling the tire I located another small hole in the tube and patched it. It was real close to the others but far enough away that I suspect this was a completely new flat. Once again a search of the tire had revealed nothing! I had noted the proper orientation of the tube relative to the tire so I knew with certainty where to place the boot.
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| Flat repair #4 |
I did meet the owner of the driveway who was coming out to enjoy the day and have a nice relaxing session of weed whacking. He was quite generous but was fresh out of 700x28 Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech tires so I moved on.
I made a stop at the 7-11 at Vandegrift and N. River Rd which is somewhat of a tradition with me. Once a couple of years ago I bonked on the bike trail headed towards Oceanside. That was a much harder faster ride then than the Rainbow 200k yesterday but it was a lesson learned. Since that time I almost always stop there to fuel up after emerging from the back country.
The ride down the coast from Oceanside was better than usual. There was the prevailing tailwind and I ran into Dion Dyer just south of Carlsbad. Dion was in more of a hurry than I and he eventually pulled ahead. I always enjoy these last few miles of a brevet and try not to hurry though them. It's a time when I can savour the end of the ride. I went up the outside at Torrey Pines (per the route sheet), which I hadn't done in many trips south. Traffic was light and the grade seemed a bit flat after riding the inside for so long. The tire made it to the end and when I looked this afternoon was still holding air.I met my goal for this ride which was to take it easy and to make what is a pretty challenging route a piece of cake. Holding my heart rate under 151 except for the rarest of occasions was the center piece of that plan. My scale up for this season is off to a fine start. A couple of 300k brevets are coming right up and I am really looking forward to them.
Rainbow 200 Ride Stats:
Distance: 195 km
Riding Speed Average: 21.9 km/h
Ascent 2210 m
Time 10:59 hh:mm
Ride Volunteers: Thank you!
Start line - Robert Leone, Dennis Stryker
Start line - Robert Leone, Dennis Stryker
San Elijo/Elfin Forest - Osvaldo Colavin
Deer Springs Road Control - Jaime Gurrola
Rainbow Control - Tom & Tina Reynolds
SAG - Guy Laronche
Finish Line - Tim Sullivan, Dennis Stryker
Posts
I've had that repeated invisible flat thing happen to me during a commute - went through multiple tubes and an entire patch kit - before giving up and replacing the tire (after making sure the problem wasn't hiding in the rim).
ReplyDeleteSorry to see you scuffed up your fork - definitely an odd way to do it.
I love your photo of John - he said he was doing the course, just in reverse ;-)
John Hillard is great! He kept me sane and safe on the bike trail with his dry humor and encouraging insight. He's the Frank Zappa of randonneuring! :)
ReplyDeleteBtw, Kevin, you're now a poster boy for "TENACITY." How many flats can you tolerate before breaking? Not enough! That's the spirit.
And yes, you have a lovely bike!
Good to see you, Kevin! Was surprised when I lost track of you going into Del Mar.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that I was in a "hurry" but, as usual, just "smelling the hay in the barn" as the finish got closer -- and this time without suffering my routine near bonk on the Coast Hwy. Go figure -- in Rainbow, given the hills, cramps and my poor conditioning at this point, I was predicting 12 hrs. ++ but somehow got back in less than 11 hrs.
Such is randonneuring -- it's always different than you expect! Take care, and maybe put some different rubber on the bottom side!
Dion
January 18, 2011 2:18 PM
You no doubt have heard of my adventure this past November I had with mystery flats. I was determined to finish the Inkopah Perm we tried last year, remember? I had no fewer than 6 flats. I went through three of my tubes and one of John's. The last two flats, we patched up since we were down to two tubes between the three of us and patching a leak is challenging enough in daylight.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, I do know what you went through. And, congrats and pushing on through it. I was fit to be tied after that. Kely was so disgusted that he gave me two brand new Conti Hardshells. Bless his heart.