My Most Recent Ride 2011 (Part IV of the series)

I agree with Ed. I highly doubt a tube inserted into a tire like that would work at all. Probably ruin the tube the first time you put air into it. But, maybe someone knows more than I.

Reminds me of the time I had to repair a tire and for some reason I did not have a boot. Usually carry one but it is one of those things you might use once every 10 years or so but it is light and doesn't take up much room. Anyway, no boot. Was by a home so asked for some duct tape. Tire fixed and I went home but then I changed the tire and made sure a good boot was in the bag.

 

Interesting comments I will definitely keep in my mind. Also, I work with surgical gloves here in my shop all the time. Nothing looks tackier than having a nice coat of grease embedded under LONG fingernails! Ugh, looks like I have been scratching in the dirt like a chicken.

 

Can bicycle tyre inner tubes fold back on themselves?
Stranger things have happened: my money is on the wrench-monkey
who installed a too-big tube.

Here's what I learned from this tubular tale:
as a follow-up to asking,"do you need any help?"
I'll be sure to ask, "are you sure?"

----

Headwinds.
They're everywhere... even when there is a tailwind.
But when I make an effort to be aerodynamic by reducing my frontal area
(by scrunching down in the seat) I pick up a few free miles per hour and
the perpetual headwind I feel, feels reduced.

----

The other day, I swooshed around something big and bumpy in the road, on my line.
It was a turtle, crossing the road!
Naturally, I turned around, propped my bike on the planet and carried the armored critter across the road.

While bent over the bike... shiny stuff glinted in the weeds at me, on the other side of the guard rail.
It was a mirror.
Big shards.
Useful, big, shiny glass shards, perfect for future stained-glass projects!
Also, hidden behind the post directly behind my bike?
A new roll of black vinyl electrician's tape.
Ooooh: free taaaaape....

So, I'm gonna go back to the turtle crossing and clean up all that
broken mirror-glass.
Meanwhile, the free roll of tape has a new home in my bike bag.

Karma, man: gotta be.

---

28 miles last Tuesday and 21 miles today, with an average speed
of 16.1mph.
Not too bad, for my hilly routes.

 

Rode 27.7 miles at lunch today. Beautiful day. I combined two different trail rides I do to get the mileage. It is a LOT of up and down. I'm pooped because I push it the whole time.

On another note I logged my miles in Bike Journal and low and behold we have a new bent rider coming up the ranks. Go RichB!!!!! Rich just purchased a new V Rex and I can see he is putting the miles on it. (Over 500 miles in a short period of time.)

Here I thought I was safe in "lucky" 7th place in our club. But now I have to watch out for Rich. DARN!!!!

 

Got back on the Bike today after almost 1.5 weeks off. Did 35.8 miles with the Local bike club to stretch my legs. A couple of them are going to Switzerland in the next few weeks and they are mountain training..lol

35.8 Miles
13.4 Average
2300 feet of climbing

 

I've been busted! I hopedto sneak up a little closer before you saw me.

My commute is 25-29 miles round trip and I've been riding in about 4 days-a-week. Tuesday was nice, and I felt good, so I pedaled an extra 20 mile loop on the way home.

I chatted with a fellow at a bike-path drinking fountain tonight; he suggested a low-traffic road that will get me some moderate hillage "on the way" home. Maybe tomorrow night.

I enjoyed a cigar on the way home tonight. 12.5 miles, 14.5 mph rolling average, flat path along the river.

I don't know if I'm a threat for 2011, Jon - I'm almost 700 miles behind you, and I don't think that many 50+ mile days are on the horizon this year.

Rich
(not that it matters, but while the V-Rex is new to me, it's a 2000 or 2001 model)

 

I think I am just now getting bent legs..lol

Last couple of rides I have made it my goal to stay out of the Granny gear. So far so good. IT looks like by staying out of Granny gear (for me its a 22) I am adding a mile an hour to my total average. Instead of going 3-4 mph in granny up a hill I am doing 6-7 in my second chain ring. I think I can now reserve the granny gear for mountains. I will find out Sunday when i will be on a longer hillier ride.

I got a ride in before the storms hit 19.5 miles 13.9 Average. I actually saw a bear today crossing 55. I was in Alaska, never saw a bear,come home and see running across the road.

 

bakrauf:

...There is this one short hill on a rolling country road, that I use to
test myself.
My accustomed speed, climbing this one little hill is about 8mph
and that's spinning in 2nd. gear (it has some teeth, don't ask how many).
But, carrying 20-plus mph into the bottom and sprinting up the hill as
energetically as I can?
Well, what a difference!
Climbing as if I were leading out a sprinter in a race to the finish
on that hill means that my speed drops only a few mph, from 24mph
to 18mph (so far).

Practice!



---

So, testing tire pressures during this morning's pre-ride found zero tire pressure
in the rear wheel.
Aw, gee whiz.
Got the inner tube out, the thorn removed, surface scuffed and patch selected:
but hang on:
there was no glue in the tube!
The self-vulcanizing glue tube, part of my flat-fixing kit on my bike, was empty!

Good thing the flat was being fixed at home, eh?

Grabbed one of the spare inner tubes (so was there an, "outer tube" at one time?)
...and it would-not-fit.
The tube would fit inside the tire, but only if it were folded over itself.
*
No glue and no spare.



Well, the local bike shop was open and they did exchange my two
unused inner tubes for two that would fit... and I picked up a pair
of cheap, on sale, leather summer gloves... and bought a new inner tube
patching kit.

Hey, the new tube fit fine and held air well enough to let me get in my ride
today and the old tube, the one with six patches on it now, was successfully repaired by the new glue in my new patch kit.



There were so many bicyclists out riding around on my regular route today!

What a good workout....

 

Did 50.3 miles today 14.2 MPH average. I road with the Winchester Wheelmen from Middletown VA where we had lunch and then road back home. We got a few rain drops just as i was pulling into the Driveway.

I hit 3,000 miles for the year-First time ever- I need at least 400 more to catch Ward now..lol

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/364103

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/364105

I am missing a mile where the GPS quit working. I did a 14.2 for the first 36 miles and 14.8 last 13. I am getting better at hill climbing.

 

An unusual ride

Not sure what to call this! It started out being a Wednesday morning Cades Cove trike ride. I did get a late start because it was also the first day of school so I was late hitting the typical ride time marks.

But after flat-spotting a tire with only 4 miles into my ride then limping 7 miles back to the hauler, I took it on the road after learning of a 'rabbit' to chase!

 

Just a little hint here. If you have some rubber cement on hand, like the Elmer's rubber cement, that will work for putting those patches on. I sometimes carry one of those little bottles of Elmer's when it is only partially full to use if needed to fix a flat on the road. It seems the patch kits with their little tubes of cement like to dry out quite fast but the Elmer's seems to last a long time before drying out.

 

21.8 miles this morning at my fastest ever for a 20 mile trip. 1053 feet of climbing for an average my Garmin said was 15.8 mph.. My bike computer said 15.3 so I do not have a clue which one is right.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/366519

 

Got the trike out for the first time in a few weeks. It has been down due to tube/tire issues. I remembered why its my winter bike, the heat was just too much being that close to the road. Starting at 3:30 in the afternoon probably wasn't a great idea either. Then, a little over an hour Into The Ride, I noticed a front tire almost flat so I had to stop and fix THAT.

When I finished I was just done with the heat. I packed it in and ended the ride with 23.4 miles with a 13.6 moving average.

Tomorrow morning though its back out early while its cool to see how far I can take the Dragon before lunch. Sorry Brian.

 

22miles at an average speed of 14.5mph.

Slowest this week, by far, for several reasons.

Yesterday was average, about 16.4mph; the day before was flirting with
19mph the first half... 17mph the second, for a 17.1mph overall average speed.

Today was for playing and cruising... spinning up the hills rather than, you know, going for it.

-Then there were the Tn. D.O.T. maintenance crews blocking lanes in my route: funny how they know me on sight, eh?

-And there was the selfish psychotic who did not give a flying * about
me. He (as I was signalling my right turn) turned right, right in front of my feet.
His faded robin's-egg, powder-blue compact pickup missed.
He sped off.
The action he took was intentional.

(My motorcycling career ground to a halt when a robin's-egg, powder-blue station wagon turned left, into my femur.)

See, with today's close call with that low-life puke-stain in his faded blue
weapon, well, my heart really wasn't in it today.

 

Glad that you are safe and sound though. That counts for a lot.