Saturday, September 18, 2010

noises in the night

i should've known this morning's ride was going to be interesting. it started with me unable to start my stopwatch correctly. i lit up the display light three times before i figured out i was pushing the wrong button.

i rode out to the highway and headed east. everything was going along fine when, around two and quarter miles out, i heard this strange noise coming from my front end. it sounded like something had gotten caught in the spokes and was scraping the forks with each rotation. i braked and turned my headlight onto the tire. i couldn't see anything, but the tire was squishier than it had been when i left, so i turned around and headed back home.

i pulled into the garage and pumped up the tire. at first i thought all was well, but as the pressure increased there was suddenly the sound as of a great wind. the same sound i'd heard on the highway only this time it was steady. i spun the tire and found the source: a hole clear through the tire. grrrr.

since i'd been thinking about changing out my rear tire anyway, i pulled rubber off both the front and rear rims and changed up the whole bike. i moved the still good rear tire to the front and put a brand new tire on the back.

with everything back in place and both tires inflated to 120psi, i took off again. i rode east then south to the railroad tracks in milan, then doubled back. i arrived home just as the girls were leaving for their volleyball tournament.

hope my next ride is a little less interesting. (16.22 miles @ 17.2mph)

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