Nobody likes falling flat. It implies failure; and who enjoys failure? Yet it happens, as in flat tires.

Today I was out on my long ride. About 16 miles out, my bicycle suddenly seemed to be rolling differently. I thought at first it might be the texture of the surface; but I never noticed that change before.

The dreaded thought of “flat tire” began to creep in; and I began to watch my front tire. All seemed OK with it; so I finally stopped to check the rear tire. There it was — a flat! And over 17 miles from home!

There was nothing for me to do but go to work changing the tube. I was in a location that would have made it very inconvenient for a neighbor to come get me; and every cyclist needs to know how to change a tube, anyway. We learn by doing! But I hadn’t practiced this operation in years. There I go, falling flat!

As an aside, I thought I had tire liners, but I discovered that I don’t; at least, not on the rear tire. I’ve got to get some pronto!

It’s a good thing that I knew what I needed to do. Doing it, of course, was another matter. I hauled my extra tube; multi-tool; CO2 cartridges; and nozzle out of my under-saddle pack.

Misadventure

A misadventure like this is inevitable if you ride enough; but that doesn’t make it any easier! Somewhere I read about practicing tire-changing for a major event; it was either PBP or RAAM, I think. It said, practice changing tires until you can do it in five minutes.

I wasn’t timing myself; but it probably took me at least 10 minutes just to get that tire off the rim! Then I had to get the old tube off; and put the new one on. After that, there was the struggle to get the tire back on without wrecking the new tube.

It’s a good thing another rider came along. He had some tire levers that worked better than the ones on my multi tool; and he got that tire back on for me. Then I inflated the “new tire” with my CO2 cartridge; and headed home.

This misadventure meant I lost considerable time; and also about 10 miles. I decided it was wiser to go straight home, just in case I flatted again. I had to remove my gloves in order to play mechanic; and my hands got chilled. My skin gets very dry in the cold; and my cuticles got banged up and bloody. I’m lucky it wasn’t in the mid-40s and raining!

Well, there’s always next Sunday. I just hope I don’t go falling flat again.