maybe the thrid try will be the charm
I have a friend who is new to road riding, especially in traffic. To date she has been cycling mostly in circles around her local neighborhood. Several months ago I offered to show her some of the longer routes that didn't have a whole lot of traffic or had really nice wide shoulders. We have somewhat conflicting schedules so we are only able to get together every couple of weeks. The last time we tried, the particular route I wanted to show her had road construction so we ended up doing a long and not very pleasant detour and far more miles than she had ever done before.
We tried again yesterday. I had checked out the route earlier in the week and knew the construction was complete. It was a nice day, we met up on time and starrted off. 8 miles later I flatted out. This is only the third flat tire I have ever had in 5 years of riding but I successfully changed the other two flats so I felt fairly able to go ahead and change this one and continue on the ride.
I took the tire off, turned it inside out , examined it, found a slit, booted it with a dollar bill, and proceeded to put the tire and a new tub back onto the wheel.
45 minutes later I finally had the tire changed with the help of my friend. I applied the first co2 tube and it inflated partially and then blew out. -( I love bontrager tires but they are very very stiff and difficult on arthritic hands with weak thumbs)- my friend Marion has arthritis in her hands and it took the two of us to get the tire back on each time. Don't know it was so hard this time as I have done it in the past. However once it was back on the second time I tried again to inflate it with another co2 cylinder and then with the hand pump. Again no success.
Since we were going into the second hour of fixing the tire, Marion volunteered to ride back to her house, get her car and come back and pick me up. Just as she was pulling up, a guy, obviously a rider, pulled up in his car and asked if he could help. Talk about timing.
3 hours later, home, tire still flat, 2 tubes gone and 2 co 2 cartridges later all I can say is that if she ever forgives me for messing up two tries, maybe the third attempt will be the charm and we will ride, and she will learn a new route.
marni
