June 08, 2005
Flat Tire
It's summer: time to start putting miles on the bike. On Sunday, the first really hot and humid day of summer, I decided to take my first 35+ mile ride of the year. For the occasion, I decided to ride down to North Royalton to surprise Alison at home. The pace and the route there were slow and ghetto. The 17 miles there was primarily uphill. Given the heat and the fact I am still conditioning, the pace was slower than I liked. I did have the opportunity to try out the Camelback water reservoir my parents gave me for Christmas this past year. Although it adds weight, it did a very good job of keeping the water cool and keeping sweat off my back. It is definitely a nice accessory for 30+ mile rides.
When I arrived at Alison's house, I was literally dripping with sweat. They showered me with water, ice cream, and dinner. Although her mother insisted on them driving me back to Case, I insisted that I was OK to ride. When gearing up to leave, I mounted my bike, only to realize that the read tire was completely flat. I was completely flabbergasted. I couldn't explain why the tire had deflated between the time I arrived and when I planned to leave. After removing the tube at their house, I found a large leak at the base of the air intake. After talking to some more experienced bikers, they informed me that can sometimes happen if the tire is overinflated and it gets too warm. The tires definitely weren't at their max air pressure when I started the ride. Perhaps the temperature and friction against the warm road caused the air pressure to rise above the max tire rating. Who knows. Until I go buy a new tube, I'll have to resort to whatever else there is to do around here.
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