Final ride of the year... flats!

Ryan and I originally planned to do a night ride last night but he left work earlier than expected and we headed out in the afternoon.  We both left from our houses and rode towards each other on Messner Rd.  Just east of Fredericksburg Rd. I came upon Ryan stopped alongside the road, he was checking in with another cyclist who appeared to be changing a flat tire.  As I rolled up to the scene I realized it was Jeremy Grimm.

Back on the bike Jeremy joined us as we rode over to Honeytown and south to Fredericksburg.  It was good to chat with Jeremy and hear how he and his family have been.  We rode into Fredericksburg and climbed Harrison to the west.  Jeremy headed north on Nonpariel as we continued across 83 and onto County Line Road.

Aaron heading downhill on Force Road.

The day was overcast but warm for the season, the thermometer in the back yard showed 41 when I left the house.  Road conditions were wet from melted snow and the roads were covered with cinders.  It felt great to be outside on the bike.

We rode down Force Rd. to connect up with Cemetery Rd. and here began our problems.  Apparently the pre-ride adjustments I made to my front derailleur were not so good.  In a 500 yard section of road I managed to drop my chain to the outside and then inside.  Wow, that's a new one.  Stopped in the road and with Ryan holding my bike up I managed to get the chain back on and start rolling again.

About five minutes later we were on Cemetary Rd. and Ryan announced his rear tire was going flat.  No big deal, we stopped along side the road and got to work on a tube swap out.  Ryan searched for a foreign object in the tire and found none.  With a new tube, this one full of air, on the rear wheel we started rolling again... again.

Flat tire change #1 for the day.

"I've got some bad news..." Ryan stated a few minutes later.  His rear tire was flat again.  We pulled into a gravel parking area along side the road near the Killbuck marsh.  Ryan flipped his bike over and we both looked down to see bubbles puttering out of a hole in his wet tire.  I reached down and picked a pointy cinder out of the hole.  Wheel off, tube changed, tube inflated, wheel back on.  We started rolling again... again... again.

The culprit!

With our spare tubes exhausted another flat tire would result in a call for vehicular pickup alongside the road.  We rode up the old 226 bypass and turned west on Willow.  Just before reaching the Kister Mill Ryan called out, "my front tire is flat!"  I reached for my cell phone.

KT was glad to hear we were only a few miles from home and she picked us up in the truck.  Ryan announced we had set a new record, it was the first time the two of us had ever required a pick up on the road to get back home.  Oh well, it had some comic relief to it. 

Ryan is now shopping for new tires.

It was not the cleanest day on the road.