More of a workout than I'd expected.

[vakkotaur]

A few days ago I bicycled from home to the Fairmont airport. I tried to stay off of the three main streets or roads that I would drive on to get there. I found out that two of my alternate road choices were gravel and not very easy going. And to make it worse, somewhere along the way (might have been the gravel roads, might have been in town on pavement, a tire was punctured and developed a not-very-slow leak. The result was that I had tough going before (and after) I noticed it. I made my way back to Shopko and bought a portable pump and got enough pressure to last me until I got home, if barely.

I went looking for the leak and I found it. In doing so I noticed the tire was showing signs of rot so just changing the tube would likely be pointless. I went looking for a replacement and found none in town (27x1-1/8 inch isn't a commonly stocked thing in the age of mountain bikes and the like) but I have a couple on order now.

I did pick up a patch kit, mainly to get the tire levers I'd need for changing the tire. After a couple days I got a bit antsy and decided to try to patch what I had. After all, it would be good practice and even if I botched it badly, I would hardly be any worse off. I patched it, or so I thought. When I checked, I found I either missed the puncture or only got one of a couple. Thus I got to do it again. The tire seemed to hold air, or at worst have a very slow leak. One slow enough that I could ride for a while and not be too concerned. And I had the portable pump to deal with things if need be.

So today, overconfident, I started out for the movie theater and made a point of stopping at a gas station on the way to use their compressed air to get more pressure than the manual pumps seem to be able to generate. I probably should have just turned around and come home as I could hear the leak. But I was about half-way there or more, and I had my portable pump. So on I went.

I saw the movie, and got back to a flat tire as I had pretty much expected. Out came the pump and I got some pressure... and the pump failed. "Schwinn Quality" (as the card the pump was on proclaimed) is evidently even worse than Ford quality. Not good. But I figured I could just make it back to the gas station. I almost did. I walked the last little bit. Got more air. Hoped I could get home on that. I did, but the tire was losing it fairly fast and I really felt it as I went on. It wasn't just biking on a hot Summer afternoon. It was hard biking on a hot Summer afternoon. How hard? When I got home it was time for "Rennie Gatorade" - a drink of pickle juice, as plain water just wasn't doing it. Sound bad? Well, it tasted good to me. When that tastes good, you need it. I needed it. If you ever need a demonstration that fuel mileage is negatively affected by under-inflated tires making the engine work harder, try riding a bike with an under-inflated tire. It sucks.

I won't be making another patch attempt on that tube and tire. I'll wait for the new tires (Kevlar reinforced for greater puncture resistance) and then put on a new tube (allegedly self-sealing) as well. I've heard of folks concerned about bike weight worrying about the reinforcement adding a few ounces. I'm not concerned about that. I can more make up for that by shedding some of my own weight, and I really want tires that hold air well.

Oh, I do plan on biking to the airport again. But I have a different alternate route in mind. One that's completely paved, even if I do end up on one of the main roads for a bit. I also plan on getting another portable pump, just in case I need such a thing, and hopefully it'll be one that will last a while.