Flat Chance

The road to my recovery is a little less bumpy now.  I still have some annoying rib pain, but nothing (at the moment anyway) that's keeping me from doing anything bike-related.  During my convalescence though, it seems like I've neglected my body just for the sake of being on a bike again.  That may be true but it's a moot point now.

I'm just about healed now.

However, I was in a dark place mentally, and while one can argue that I'm like that most of the time anyway, I will say that trying to deal with being broken took its toll on me.  I did just enough to try to keep my sanity, but I did more than neglect my body.  I also neglected some of our bikes.  It's difficult to keep up with so many bikes when all three of us here in the house ride (and each have multiple two-wheeled machines.)  My bikes have been good enough (with the small amount of riding I've done), so I finally stopped being so unselfish and took a look at some of our other rides.

The first was Lunchbox's bike.  I've said it many times before, but he's prone to flat tires.  I've tried different tubes, tubeless, and the last step was a new tube and tire.  Without even riding, he had a flat.

I knew it wasn't his fault now.  I suspected that the rims had an issue before, but I didn't really look into it.  He liked those wheels because of the white spokes, but I knew they were crap (cheap wheels from a bike long ago.)  I happened to have some new Niner wheels from a bike that I took off before riding, but there was one problem...

Thru axle and he haz quick release frok.

I scoured The Internets and found an adapter that would work.  I couldn't find anyone that had anything bad to say about it, which probably means that it sucks.  Who gives a shit.  I ordered it anyway, because I don't care.  It showed up, and installation was a breeze.

It's solid too.

I used a new tube, same (new) tire, and moved the brake rotor to the new wheel.  No moar flat.

Now, on to the next issue.  The little lady told me she had a flat for no reason.  I checked it out and didn't see an obvious issue, so I did what any normal person would do and added moar sealant.  The next day it was flat again.  I decided to investigate further.  I took off the tire and saw that the rim tape I used was not doing so well.

Something told me I would regret buying that tape.  I've used Stan's tape for years, but when I went to my local bike shop the last time they didn't have any.  I was told that this "other brand" was better (I won't say the name but it starts with an "R" and ends with some shit made by the Big Red S.)  And by the way, this happened once before too, but I chalked that one up to user error.  Now I had no doubt that it was a poor purchase.

The rim was re-taped, tire re-inflated, and flat time is over.  I'm throwing away an almost complete roll of rim tape because I didn't listen to my gut.  Lesson learned.

I forgot what that lesson was though.  Maybe it's that I don't need to be around people.


Or maybe that I need to start being a little more patient.

 

Lots Of Problems

But a bad ride wasn’t one of them.

On Saturday, our trip to FATS near Augusta, GA was on.   D-Wayne rolled down to the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters bright and early, joining myself and Lunchbox to meet the rest of the crew down in Rock Hill, SC.  We rolled up on the scene and found Dennis, Good Guy Greg, TomTom, and Eastwood waiting at a local McDonald’s.

We hit the road, making the little over two hour trip seem like nothing.  When we got to the parking lot, we met up with Dustin from Southern Wheelworks for a nice day in the woods.  We got ready, and hit the trail at a social pace.  When we got to the first intersection we took the Great Wall loop and hauled ass.  It was fun as hell, until I realized that we were missing someone from the group.  I pulled over to the side of the trail with the rest of the group rolling up right behind me.

“Where’s my kid?” I asked.

No one knew.  I figured that maybe he missed a turn (it’s easy to do even though he’s been there a bunch) so I told the group to continue and I would go back to look for him.  I sprinted up the long climb (which we had just rolled down) and headed back to the parking lot, backtracking as best I could to find him.  When I turned around and headed into the loop backwards, I found Lunchbox on the side of the trail with a flat tire.

Shit.

He was in the process of changing it, so I helped him along.  He hadn’t even gone half a mile when he pinch flatted.  I really gotta set aside some time to get that boy setup tubeless.  Anyway, I asked if he wanted to ride the loop the “fun” way or if we should just keep going backwards until we eventually ran into the group.  He opted for the former, and without a proper warm up we hauled ass to catch up.  I was hoping we would find them well before they finished (and went on to the next loop), but we were wearing ourselves out trying to catch them. 

Just as we thought all hope was lost, we rolled up on a group of riders that looked strangely familiar…and had a problem that was also familiar.

Yeah, it turns out that Eastwood flatted too and they had been there for a while.  His inferior tire sealant didn’t do the trick when he punctured the tires, and multiple bad tubes, co2, and unsuccessful hand pumping couldn’t get things right.

He worked his ass off trying to get back to riding.

Eventually he got it, but the tube didn’t hold air.  We had to stop several times so he could top it off (without all that weird pumping action this time), and we all decided that a trip back to the parking lot was in order.  Dustin (the guy who built those wheels) was kind enough to provide some real tire sealant and we got busy trying to get the tire to air up without a tube.

And the smart people just sat back and watched.

We eventually got things right again (by using a co2 instead of the pump), and went on to have an awesome ride.  Fast, flowy, smooth singletrack, and hauling ass in the woods with some good people for hours was just what I needed.

Well, that and a beer.

And of course Lunchbox needed a ton of food.

And since I’m apparently trying to keep the streak alive by talking about you know who very single day, here’s a photo of some socks we spotted on the ride.

Yeah.  Good times.

Cleaning Up Loose Ends

Hooray Beer!

Actually I was talking about my geared bike.

After a shitty race on Sunday, I went out to the garage to find this:

My rear tire had become flat.  I figured maybe it was some kind of fluke, so I pumped it up and checked everything.  I could hear air leaking out somewhere, and eventually I found it.

I guess that happened during the race and I didn’t notice it.  I had bigger issues at the time, but I’m really lucky that the tire didn’t explode while I was out there.  Upon further inspection, I found something else that was kinda odd.

See how it's warped?

That might be part of what was going on with my lack of handling during the race.  Did I mention that the other day?  Probably not.  Anyway, the tire is over a year old, and very well worn.  I knew I had to replace it, but I kept putting it off.  In fact, I’ve been putting my geared bike off all together.  I other ride it during the Southern Classic races, and it sits there collecting dust the rest of the time.  Like Little Miss Sunshine told me (with a big fat “I told you so”), I needed to show my geared bike a little love. 

Luckily, I was prepared for such an occasion.

I’ve had this tire hanging around for a while, and now I pretty much had to use it.  I pulled the old tire off and took a peek inside.

So that’s what a year’s worth of Stan’s looks like.  Hmmm.

I got the new tire on, and gave my bike a good washing.  Aside from the mud I acquired in Sunday’s race, I still had dust on it from when I race at Uwharrie over a month ago.  I guess I should really start paying attention to my “other” bike from now on.

But damn, I love that single speed.

Sometime in the next few days, I’ll switch my SS bike back to a 32X20 configuration, and I probably won’t ride it again around here after that until I get back from my trip.  I guess that means if I ride again before we leave I’ll be riding my geared bike.

That’s probably not a good way to prepare for a single speed race, is it?

Rainy Day

How do you know when it’s raining cats and dogs? You step in a poodle. (Thank you folks, I'll be here all week.)


Yeah, it’s that kind of day. After over a month of no rain, we’ve been hit with a shitload of the wet stuff around here in Charlotte. I guess we need it though, especially since the trails have been dry and dusty for far too long. The sad news is, I haven’t been on my bike in a few days. I got a chance last Saturday to go mountain biking at Sherman Branch, and Sunday of course I got in a few miles on the road bike during Little Miss Sunshine’s triathlon. That’s not nearly enough for me.


Tonight was supposed to be another night ride at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, but I can’t do that for reasons other than the fact that there is rain falling from the sky. Yes, I’ve had yet another mechanical-type setback. Back before I went tubeless, I suffered many flats (the main reason I converted to tubeless.) One of those flat tire times I kept riding, which caused a little damage to the tire bead that I knew would come back to bite me in the ass.


On my trip to The Big Sherm da udda day, my fears were realized near the end of the trail when I heard the sound of air leaving my rear tire. Shit. After a close inspection, I saw that the air was escaping from the area between the bead and the rim, which wouldn’t stop no matter how much Stan’s fluid flowed through in a vain attempt to plug the leak. I ended up walking out, which wasn’t bad since I was close to the exit. Even though I was equipped with a fully loaded Awesome Strap, I didn’t want to waste time and money by putting in a tube and using my CO2 inflator. I’ll save that for my pathetic attempts at racing. The bad part was that I had to find a new tire, and fast.


I called one local shop, but they didn’t stock my favorite tire, the 29er Kenda Small Block 8. They offered up some “similar” tires, but since I have OCD, I can’t run two different tire types on my bike. I stopped in another local shop and they didn’t stock them either. They offered to order one for me, but I can do that just fine by myself. The MadSS even offered up one of his many spare tires to get me going again, but he also knew that I couldn’t accept because of my inability to run two different tires. I decided to peruse the Internets to find a tire that would get here in time for the Tree Shaker 12 Hour Mountain Bike Race.


I used The Google, and I was overwhelmed with the search results. Just then, I remembered that I had been wanting to try to order something from the folks at Bike29, especially since I’ve heard a few good things about them. Also, Little Miss Sunshine had made one of her almost-famous “Genital Non-Displaying Devices” for the proprietor, George, so at least I wouldn’t get anyone’s junk residue on my new tire. After finding the tire on their website, I clicked the order button and waited. The next day I received this e-mail:

Bike 29

The comments for your order are:

We are currently out of the country, and will not be processing any orders until we return on October 1st. Thanks for you patience.

Your order has been updated to the following status.

New status: Processing

Please reply to this email if you have any questions.

Damn. It’s my own fault though. I regularly read their blog, and I remembered that they mentioned this a while back. I’ll survive though, since the tire will still arrive in time for me to mount it up for the Tree Shaker. The bigger problem though, is that I won’t be able to ride my big wheels until then. I may have found a used tire locally (Small Block 8 of course), but there could be some logistical issues with me picking it up. I guess that means I’m still searching, and hopefully I’ll find something in the meantime.


I have faith in the folks at Bike29, so when the new tire gets here it will be replacing whatever used piece of shit I temporarily put on my bike. It will all work out in the end I’m sure. When it’s all said and done, I’ll have a spare tire in case this happens to me again, and I’m sure it will. Half the shit I talk about around here has to do with my equipment malfunctions, so I wouldn’t wanna change that, would I?


See you tomorrow for more mindless drivel.

Going Ghetto

Ha. Well, sort of. We’re not packing up our shit and moving out of the ‘burbs. Rather, I decided it was time to do something about this flat tire shit I’ve been dealing with lately. Since a lot of riders around here run a tubeless setup, I figured I would try it too. However, I’m doing it Ghetto Style (read: cheap.) I found a link on YouTube for a video about the conversion. I realized that I could do a homemade version on my own, so I gathered up some supplies.


I obviously had plenty of old tubes lying around, so I figured I could use the valve stems:



I purchased some Gorilla Tape from a local hardware store:





…and some Stan’s sealant from a local bike shop:





This seemed like it would be an easy job, so I dug right in. First, after removing my tires and tubes, I cleaned the rims. Then, it was time to apply the Gorilla Tape to the rim channel.





I overlapped it a little, which amounted to about a spoke on each side of the valve hole. It went on nice and smooth:





Next, I cut a valve stem from one of my many old tubes:





And placed it in the rim:





Disclamer: The valve stem in the photo was for illustrative purposes only. I didn’t like the bubble-looking thing, so I used another in the final installation.

Anyway, after installing a GOOD valve stem, I mounted the tire. I slapped on a little soap action to aid with seating the tire bead:





I aired up the tire with my compressor and the bead popped into place. No muss, no fuss. After checking the installation, it was time for the sealant. I broke the bead in the bottom and poured in a couple of scoops of Stan’s.





I popped the bead back on, and it aired right up again. After following the sealing procedure (without all that drilling and crap) on the NoTubes website, I was golden. I did the other tire the same way, and mounted everything back on. I took a moment to admire my work:




I decided to take a ride to the store (around 4 miles roundtrip), just to test it out. No lost pressure, so I was feeling good. I checked it every couple of days, and I was satisfied. Finally, I had the nerve to take my new ghetto tubeless setup out on the trail. After a lap around one of the rootiest places in town, I knew I was gonna be okay. No flats, no leaks, no problems. It’s about time I got with the times.


The setup was pretty easy for a tubeless newb like me, so that means anyone can do it. I don’t have a tubeless wheelset, nor do I have actual “tubeless” tires. I’m running regular Kenda Small Block 8 tires on WTB Speed Disc 29er rims, which I’ve heard is one of the most difficult setups to do. It’s actually been over a week now since I did it, and everything is still tip top. Maybe now I can stop worrying about flatting all the time. I love it when a plan comes together.

Another Fine Day In The Mountains

Last Thursday (not yesterday), we found our heroes in the Brusy Mountains in Wilkesboro, NC for a ride on the trails at the Kerr Scott Trail System. Since we had been riding every day, we were starting to show some signs of fatigue (imagine that.) After leaving the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters early in the morning, Mr. Shepherd and I picked up the Dirty Party Cycle on our way up Interstate 77 and continued north. First stop, Warrior Creek. We quickly got ready for a nice ride on some super-fast, bermed-up singletrack.



This was a pretty uneventful ride, but we kept a pretty good pace. The weather was perfect, and the trail was in great condition. We didn’t stop very often, so there were very little photo taking opportunities. We did however; get a chance to stop off at the bar:



Mr. Shepherd seemed to really enjoy the fast descents and short, yet tough climbs. I’m sure The DPC had fun too, especially since his last ride out there was when the trail was in a slippery state. After riding along a bit though, the DPC had a little difficulty unclipping from his pedals. A quick check of his shoe gave us the reason why:



After a quick trailside fix (tightening the shit outta the lonely cleat screw), we were back in action. Since we were riding pretty much the whole time, I didn’t take as many photos as I wanted. If you want to read a real review of the trail, then check out my solo ride out there. Anyway, when we finished, we rested up a bit before we headed over to the Dark Mountain Trail.



We hit the Dark Mountain Trail next, and it was just as fun. There is a shitload of climbing at first, but the payoff is a super-fun, fast downhill section. Once again I didn’t take any photos, but I did run my shitty helmet cam for some of it. If I get around to it, I’ll upload my horrible-quality videos. For now though, just imagine that we had a great ride, and everyone had fun.



When we finished, we decided to stop by and visit my pals at First Flight Bicycles in Statesville, NC. The neatest thing about their shop is the fact that it is also the home of the Museum of Mountain Bike Art and Technology (MOMBAT for short.) What is that, you ask? Well, the MOMBAT is basically a collection of vintage bicycles, and they are housed within First Flight Bicycles. You can check out the website for more details on the bikes, or you can just pay them a visit. While we were snooping around upstairs though, one particular bike stood out:







This bike was basically a two-wheeled drive thingy, and I had never seen it before. After using The Google, I found an article in a newspaper from back in 1988 about it (coincidentally the newspaper is from my former hometown.)

Check it:

Look, Ma, I Can Pedal This With My Hands!


So yeah, that was pretty much our day. Fun riding, and yet another visit with some cool people. I didn’t get a flat tire when we rode that day, but when I got back to the B-43 Headquarters I noticed that I was still having some bad luck.




Shit. Tubes and I just don’t seem to be getting along lately. It looks like I’ll start looking into the whole “tubeless” thing. See y’all tomorrow for the final day of our vacation recap. Tune in to find out if it will be flat-free. Next up, a nice little road ride, which is the end of our vacation (finally.) Oh yeah, I’m headed to the mountains again this weekend, so that will put me even further behind in ride reporting. Well, at least I have something to talk about.

Whew…

Well folks, it’s over. XTERRA Whitewater is over and done with…and we survived. While we were all certainly ready for this off-road triathlon, I have to say that it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. What? Seriously? Yep, and of course I’ll tell you all about it.


Two of the B-43 team members were stuck in The Sunshine State (Señor Oeste is working for The Man and Lunchbox is on a little vacation), but that didn’t stop the rest of us from meeting up at the U.S. National Whitewater Center at the crack of dark yesterday morning. Little Miss Sunshine and I met up with The Dirty Party Cycle and Mr. Shepherd, and we proceeded to get ready for what was supposed to be a fun race (and it was for the most part.) After we set up our respective transition areas we all posed for the obligatory pre-race photo:



I’d like to tell you all that the nerves started to get to us, but that never really happened. Sure, I was a bit anxious, but that was it. I knew I was ready. I had actually trained for this one, and my bike was in tip-top shape. I was even feeling pretty darn good about running five miles. The only thing that made me feel a little sick was Speedo-Boy:



Ewww. I know that guy must have been a swimmer, but damn. He must have either lost a bet with his buddies, or else someone tricked him into thinking he was supposed to wear man-panties for a triathlon. We all hurried away from Speedo-Boy so we wouldn’t catch it (whatever it was.)


While I was putting the finishing touches on my transition spot, I bumped into my XTERRA mentor, Peter. He’s the guy that got me interested in this fine sport, and I was glad to see him. He competes in XTERRA events all over the country (even the World Championships in Hawaii), so when he talks I listen. He had nothing but good words for me today, and that definitely boosted my confidence.




After a bit of a delay, we headed down to the ol’ river to get ready for the first part of the swim. We started the 550 meter swim in two waves. Mr Shepherd and The DPC started in the first, and I started in the second. I watched as my two B-43 teammates headed towards the first buoy, and I still remained fairly calm. After that first group reached the last buoy (about 6 minutes later), my group started. The water was so shallow at first that I just ran through it until it was deep enough to dive in. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack, and I was pretty happy with that. Actually, I was a little conservative on the swim since I got kicked in the crotch last year, but I still mixed it up with the group a little. After a small sighting error on my part after the second buoy, I headed back towards the shore. I felt great, and the biggest part of the race was over.


Here’s a shot of Mr. Shepherd running out of the first swim:



I finished the swim just behind Peter, so we ran the trail together over to the next swim leg. Little Miss Sunshine was also waiting for me, and ran with us a bit too, taking some photos. We crossed over the bridge and headed up the side of the island:


That’s me at the top.


We hopped back in the water, this time for a 200 meter swim. The water was really warm, and I pushed it hard through there. I knew this swim would be easy, so I wasn’t worried at all. As I neared the exit, Little Miss Sunshine was waiting with the camera. That woman was everywhere, and I was glad for it.



I’m in the center of the photo, and coincidentally there is the DPC on the left. Somehow I caught up to him, but I didn’t realize it until I got out of the water. We both headed over to the transition area and got ready for the best event, the mountain bike.




I finished my transition a little quicker that the DPC, so I headed out on the trail. I figured he would be right behind me though, so I wasn’t worried. I thought that we would ride together and crush the mostly-roadie-first-time-on-a-mountain-bike riders on our way to catch Mr. Shepherd. I felt great as I headed towards the trail.



When I got on the trail, I gunned it. I was passing people left and right, ringing my bike bell as I went by. This was my trail, I thought, so I had the advantage here over the out-of-towners. Every time I passed someone, my confidence grew stronger. I knew the DPC was doing the same thing. When I came to the river crossing (where we started the swim), I saw Little Miss Sunshine again with the camera. I had passed about ten people on the trail at that point, so I was feeling good.



After hearing her cheers, I picked up the pace even more. I passed a few more people on the trail, and then I arrived at the Carpet Trail. This was a lot of climbing, so I dug in and tried to gain some more speed. I passed quite a few more people on the climbs (a rare feat for me indeed), and I headed for the final decent of that trail full of confidence. I bombed the downhill with reckless abandon, but all of a sudden I knew something was wrong. As I reached the bottom of the hill, my rear tire slid out. I looked down and saw that it had gone completely flat. Shit.


I quickly flipped over my bike to see what caused the flat. I didn’t see anything obvious, so I grabbed my co2 and inflator out of my Awesome Strap and tried to get some air in my tire. As quickly as it went in, it came right back out. No worries though, as I had a spare tube and some more inflators. I changed the tube and tried to pump it up, but it was flat too. Shit. I watched as everyone I had passed blew by me…my race slipping away. The DPC went by and asked if I was okay, and I think I mumbled something to him and then cheered him on as he passed by.


One rider actually stopped to help, but he didn’t have a tube. He did have a hand pump though, so I tried something different. I tied my tube in a knot where the hole was, and tried to pump it up. Something kept poking holes in the tube, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I told the kind man to get out and finish his race, and that I would just run it out. He said, “I hate to tell you this, but it’s about nine miles. Oh yeah, You still have a five mile run after that too.” He was right. Could I really run fourteen miles? Since giving up was not an option, I did the next best thing: I rode my flat tire out of there. Even if it would later cost me a new rear wheel and tire, I would get out of there and finish my race.


Man, that shit was tough. The climbs were really hard, but I made it up Goat Hill and the Gasline climb anyway. The downhill sections were tougher than usual, since I had zero traction on my flat rear tire. I pressed on though, only walking when I slipped off the trail. I was moving along at less than a snail’s pace, but at least I wasn’t running with my bike. People were still passing me, and most of them said, “Oh, that sucks.” I usually replied with, “Well, I have no choice.”


After what seemed like forever, I finally approached the entrance to T2. Some people were already finishing the run at that point, so that discouraged me even further. I could hear the groans from the crowd as they saw me ride by on that stupid flat tire, but they were still cheering me on. I hurried over to change into my running shoes, and then I was off.


There were no photos of the run, but I ran the entire five mile trail at a pretty good pace. My legs were extra tired from riding so far with a flat, but I pressed through the pain. The time passed by pretty quickly, and before I knew it I was headed for the final approach. When I crossed the finish line, I was relieved.



Three hours and forty-two minutes. By my shitty calculations, I must have spent and extra hour and fifteen minutes on the trail riding on that damned flat. I still finished though, so I was happy. The funny thing is, people finished after I did, and they had plenty of air in their tires. Mr. Shepherd, The DPC, and Little Miss Sunshine were all there cheering for me, as well as the rest of the crowd. I felt good for going through what I did, but now I had to worry about fixing The Big O.


Overall, the XTERRA Whitewater was a great event. It ran fairly smooth, especially since this was the first XTERRA that the race promoter has ever done. The only real complaint I heard was the lack of cold beverages at the finish line, which had the DPC going thirsty for a bit. That just sucks. But, other than that, I would call it a success. Even though I had mechanical issues, I still had a decent “race.” Flats and the like are just a part of mountain biking, and XTERRAs are not supposed to be easy. I think I used my mind more that my body that day though. The week ahead will be full of more challenges, so stay tuned to see if I post up anything on a daily basis. I’ll give it my best, but I can’t promise anything. Today’s post is long enough, so you can read it again for tomorrow if I’m not here. Peace out.