In which your narrator does it again
Jun. 14th, 2007 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaSaturday morning, I agreed to go ride Ebbets Pass with a guy named Chuck who was at my table at breakfast. After this late and leisurely breakfast, we went out to the parking lot. 90% of the bikes were already gone. (This was when we found the abandoned phone and camera on the seat of my bike, and sent the text messages in Renojohn's name.) I got into my gear and my helmet and rolled over towards where Chuck was starting his bike. I looked down and noticed something.
"Chuck! Stop! You have a flat tire!" My shout brought the attention of the remaining half dozen riders chitchatting in the lot, and they started waving their arms and running over. Chuck stopped, and opened his face shield so he could hear what was up. People pointed at the tire and he suddenly understood. He would have known within seconds anyway; the tire was so flat that it would have been apparent the very instant he started to roll.
I parked my bike, and mindful of the need to take better care of myself, I immediately stripped out of my gear and put on my hat and sunglasses. I knew we would be here a while.
I asked him if he had tools, or knew how to fix the tire. He didn't. Did he have an SAE pigtail on his bike for electrics? No. OK, we'll need to use mine. I had him park his bike next to mine, where the power pigtail would reach. I started getting my tools out, while he centerstanded his bike and started looking for the hole. I hooked up my tire pump, and handed it to him, and he pumped up the tire, with enough air to make it easier to find the hole. He found it almost instantly. It was the classic textbook case, a puncture near the center of the tread.
Someone else already had a set of needlenose pliers out, and they started rooting around in the wound to look for the cause, while I assembled the patch kit. By the time I had the patch kit ready, they'd pulled a little metal shard out of the tire. It might have been half of a construction staple.
I gave the reamer to Chuck and told him to ream out the hole a little. I screwed the little insertion tube thing onto the stabber, and explained that he needed to stab it through until the insertion tube went all the way in. The stabber wouldn't go in, so he had to ream a little more, then it went in just fine. I oiled a mushroom plug and put it into the gun, and showed him how to unscrew and remove the stabber, leaving the insertion tube in the hole. Screw the gun into insertion tube, and pump the plug through to the inside of the tire. Pull gun and insertion tube out, leaving the plug behind. Pull the tail of the plug good and hard, to make sure the head is firmly in to the inner side of the tire, and won't be able to pop out. One of the other guys already had his pocket knife out, to cut off the tail flush with the tire.
I gave him the pump again and he inflated the tire. It held air, no more leak! Yay!
The whole operation probably only took ten minutes. I love having the perfect tool and knowing exactly how to use it. :-)
I was talking as I stood up from my crouch beside the bike, telling Chuck where to buy these particular tools, and how it's good to augment them with gummy strings from the auto parts store, that the gummy strings aren't permanent but if you get a puncture where these mushroom plugs don't work, the gummy strings might at least get you home. Suddenly I lost the words to finish my sentence, and the world went grey.
This time I fell in between the two bikes, and bruised hell out of my hip, knee, and shoulder. I think I banged myself up on the footpegs. I opened my eyes to a ring of concerned males, and once again was slowly picked up and steadied by Willie, and led away from the bikes, and over to a seat in the shade. Someone produced a bottle of gatorade and pressed it into my hands.
People were very concerned and didn't want me to ride just yet. And Chuck wanted to wait a few hours and make sure his tire was holding air, before he rode again. So we did not go to Ebbets Pass; instead we hung around the hotel. It turned out that Chuck was an RN, so he was full of advice on the importance of eating natural sources of potassium, like bananas. And I was full of advice on the importance of keeping an eye on that tire. I told him that unless the tire belts saw the head off the plug, it would be a permanent fix and last the normal life of the tire, but if the belts saw the head off it will fail very soon. So go slow, especially at first, and check it frequently.
I sent Chuck an email when I got home this past Sunday, to see if he got home all right, but he hasn't written back yet. Hope all went OK for him.
I spent the rest of the weekend making jokes about how I only pass out when Willie is there, and these bruises are because Willie beats me. On my way home, I stopped and stayed with Willie at his house in McCall, Idaho, and completely managed to not pass out, and didn't amass any more bruises, though, so I guess he's not such a bad guy after all. :-)
"Chuck! Stop! You have a flat tire!" My shout brought the attention of the remaining half dozen riders chitchatting in the lot, and they started waving their arms and running over. Chuck stopped, and opened his face shield so he could hear what was up. People pointed at the tire and he suddenly understood. He would have known within seconds anyway; the tire was so flat that it would have been apparent the very instant he started to roll.
I parked my bike, and mindful of the need to take better care of myself, I immediately stripped out of my gear and put on my hat and sunglasses. I knew we would be here a while.
I asked him if he had tools, or knew how to fix the tire. He didn't. Did he have an SAE pigtail on his bike for electrics? No. OK, we'll need to use mine. I had him park his bike next to mine, where the power pigtail would reach. I started getting my tools out, while he centerstanded his bike and started looking for the hole. I hooked up my tire pump, and handed it to him, and he pumped up the tire, with enough air to make it easier to find the hole. He found it almost instantly. It was the classic textbook case, a puncture near the center of the tread.
Someone else already had a set of needlenose pliers out, and they started rooting around in the wound to look for the cause, while I assembled the patch kit. By the time I had the patch kit ready, they'd pulled a little metal shard out of the tire. It might have been half of a construction staple.
I gave the reamer to Chuck and told him to ream out the hole a little. I screwed the little insertion tube thing onto the stabber, and explained that he needed to stab it through until the insertion tube went all the way in. The stabber wouldn't go in, so he had to ream a little more, then it went in just fine. I oiled a mushroom plug and put it into the gun, and showed him how to unscrew and remove the stabber, leaving the insertion tube in the hole. Screw the gun into insertion tube, and pump the plug through to the inside of the tire. Pull gun and insertion tube out, leaving the plug behind. Pull the tail of the plug good and hard, to make sure the head is firmly in to the inner side of the tire, and won't be able to pop out. One of the other guys already had his pocket knife out, to cut off the tail flush with the tire.
I gave him the pump again and he inflated the tire. It held air, no more leak! Yay!
The whole operation probably only took ten minutes. I love having the perfect tool and knowing exactly how to use it. :-)
I was talking as I stood up from my crouch beside the bike, telling Chuck where to buy these particular tools, and how it's good to augment them with gummy strings from the auto parts store, that the gummy strings aren't permanent but if you get a puncture where these mushroom plugs don't work, the gummy strings might at least get you home. Suddenly I lost the words to finish my sentence, and the world went grey.
This time I fell in between the two bikes, and bruised hell out of my hip, knee, and shoulder. I think I banged myself up on the footpegs. I opened my eyes to a ring of concerned males, and once again was slowly picked up and steadied by Willie, and led away from the bikes, and over to a seat in the shade. Someone produced a bottle of gatorade and pressed it into my hands.
People were very concerned and didn't want me to ride just yet. And Chuck wanted to wait a few hours and make sure his tire was holding air, before he rode again. So we did not go to Ebbets Pass; instead we hung around the hotel. It turned out that Chuck was an RN, so he was full of advice on the importance of eating natural sources of potassium, like bananas. And I was full of advice on the importance of keeping an eye on that tire. I told him that unless the tire belts saw the head off the plug, it would be a permanent fix and last the normal life of the tire, but if the belts saw the head off it will fail very soon. So go slow, especially at first, and check it frequently.
I sent Chuck an email when I got home this past Sunday, to see if he got home all right, but he hasn't written back yet. Hope all went OK for him.
I spent the rest of the weekend making jokes about how I only pass out when Willie is there, and these bruises are because Willie beats me. On my way home, I stopped and stayed with Willie at his house in McCall, Idaho, and completely managed to not pass out, and didn't amass any more bruises, though, so I guess he's not such a bad guy after all. :-)
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 02:46 am (UTC)I learned on my first trip down south last year, of the importance of keeping up your blood sugar and sodium/potassium levels. This time around, I mixed my bottles of water with Propel Fitness Water mix, which got me the nutrients. I also ate an awful lot of dried fruit. After the worst day heat-wise though, I felt awfully lightheaded while I was setting up camp for the night. Not a good feeling at all. :-(
I'm almost tempted to get one of those Aerostich banana cases, and keep it in my tankbag.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 03:39 am (UTC)I hope it was just an altitude thing, and that you don't find yourself doing that any more!
no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 12:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 04:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 04:03 pm (UTC)