Tired Tires Tagging Along

Tuesday on the levee

Driving back from Dahlonega on Monday enforced a much-needed rest day, but I was back out Tuesday morning for the 6 am levee ride, as was Chris. My legs were definitely still a little sore from 6-Gap but no more than expected, and the ride was pretty uneventful. Wednesday's WeMoRi seemed particularly fast for some reason, perhaps because I was still in recover mode or something, but it was manageable. Thursday, however, was when the flat tires started. On the way out Boyd flatted so we stopped while he fixed it, then as we got ready to go again I discovered my rear tire was almost flat. I quickly replaced the tube and we were on our way again without any more problems, although we did shorten the route because of the delay. 

On the way back we saw what had probably been the cause of the flats - a patch of fresh clear glass that we'd probably rolled right though in the dark. The next morning my rear tire was low, but I just aired it up and didn't think much about it during the Friendly Friday ride, which was particularly friendly that day, which is to say it didn't get too fast. The rear tire in question was a well-worn Continental 5000 that had two boots sewn into it from sidewall cuts. I had a fresh pair of new tires at home, but had been holding off on replacing the old ones because the streets around here are still covered with all manner of glass, roofing nails, and tree debris from Hurricane Ida. As I would soon learn, I'd waited a bit too long to replace that tired old tire. The tire was low again Saturday morning but somehow I made it through the Giro Ride that day without having to stop, although it was pretty low by the time I got home.

Lisa arrives at the Spillway checkpoint

On Sunday morning when I was getting ready to go out to the Giro Ride I noticed the rear tire was again low. I'd never been able to find anything stuck in the tire that might have caused the flat, but I went ahead and put in another tube, again checking the inside of the tire with my fingers for anything sharp. By the time we got onto Hayne Blvd. that morning for what would turn out to be a fairly easy Giro Ride (lots of people were doing Sunday's 150 mile ride around the lake), my rear tire was starting to bottom out. Everyone stopped and waited while I again replaced the tube and again checked the tire. By this point I was sure there was something embedded in the tire that I couldn't feel, so I wasn't too surprised to find it low again when we got to Venetian Isles. There, I stopped quickly to put a little more CO2 in the tire, hoping to at least make it off of Chef Highway and back onto city streets before it went flat. I took off down Chef ahead of the group, but shortly after they caught me the tire was bottoming out again and I had to stop. Again I checked the tire and could find nothing, but this time I just put maybe 40 psi into it, hoping that would prevent whatever was in the tire from puncturing the tube. A minute after we got rolling again, someone else had a flat. I told everyone I was going to continue riding since I was fully expecting it to go flat again. As it turned out, the lower pressure did the trick and the remnants of the group didn't catch me until I was on Lakeshore Drive. 

So I made it home without another flat, but my day wasn't done. I had been planning on riding out to the Spillway to pick up the lead group from NOMA to MOMA, so after getting home I quickly pulled off that tired old tire and put on a new rear tire and tube, grabbed some food and drink, and headed back out to the levee around 10:30. According to my calculations, the first riders would be coming through the Spillway around 11:30 or so and finishing around 1:00.

Tagged along with this group for the ride back into town

After a nice ride up the river with a light tailwind, I arrived at the Spillway to find Brett, who was supporting Lisa, and a few of the race people waiting for the first riders to arrive. There were a number of required places along the route where they had to punch in, and that was one of them. I learned there had been a big crash on the Bayou Bonfouca bridge near Slidell that had taken out most of the lead group and most of the 4D riders. A little while later I wasn't too surprised to see Lisa riding across the spillway, alone, in the lead. She punched in very quickly, replaced water bottles, and took off as I started my stopwatch. It was around seven  minutes later when a little group of seven or eight arrived. They took considerably longer to punch in and all, but when they rolled out I decided it would be a good group for me to tag along behind for the ride back home.

This group was clearly feeling the miles. A couple were nursing leg cramps already, and another had some sort of little mechanical problem, so after a while they were down to just five, two of whom were pretty well-toasted. For me, it was easy to sit on the back where I wouldn't affect their not-really-a-race race, since their speed was mostly in the 20-22 mph range. I felt a little guilty for not going to the front, but I didn't want to risk someone complaining about the outside assistance, so I just continued to tag along at the back. They stopped for the final punch under the Huey P. Long bridge where things got a little separated. Brian had a long chase to get back on, and even then I think they were down to just four as they exited the levee bike path onto Oak Street. After turning onto Carrollton for their last stretch back to City Park one more rider caught. A little while later I peeled off onto S. Claiborne to head back home with 109 fairly easy miles in my legs for the day. Somehow I never got rained on, but I think most of them did get wet right at the end of their ride. Strava says I've ridden 10,354 miles so far this year. That's a bit more than usual, but then again you never know what life will throw at you over the next three months.