Pinhole

I found the leaky spots in my two flat tubes from Saturday's ride at the Knob.  A pinhole in the same place on both tubes.  Hmmm... something pokey must be hiding in the tire, though I cannot find it even with the tire turned inside out.  Maybe it came out in the process of dismounting the tire.

Tube triage central.

Tonight Ryan and I went out for a night ride but it did not go as expected.  We rode through some standing water on Messner Road and were startled in the dark by Ryan's front tire exploding.  It sounded like a .22 pistol bark, and yes, the tire exploded, not just the tube.  The wire bead was protruding from the rubber.

 Of course neither of us had anything to use as a tire boot and it seemed like a call home was in order.  Searching the side of the road in the dark I found a McDonalds bag.  Inside I found the remnants of someone's breakfast including a packet of picante salsa.  Tear corner, squirt out salsa, and boot tire with the foil, plastic packet.  Perfect.  It worked surprisingly well and we didn't even take the shortest route home.  Thanks to someone for littering?

Knob by night and day

Tuesday this past week Noah and I went for a night hike at the Knob.  There were no bikes involved but it was a fun adventure in the dark.  Well, it was not as dark as it could have been due to the nearly full moon.  At times we turned our light off because the moonlight was sufficient to see.

Noah had a new Fenix flashlight that put out some very usable light.  I had my Cygolite bike light strapped to my helmet, which I've never done before, and a smaller Fenix flashlight.  It took us 2 hours to hike the trail from start to the top of the Furnace.  It made me realize a night ride on a mountain bike, with the right light, would not be as deathly as I had thought.  I'd want to know the trail for sure, but a bright night and bright head mounted light made riding look fun.



All that hiking in the dark made me want to ride, a not-so-suprising result of walking a mountain bike trail I suppose.  This afternoon I went to the knob again, this time with bike.  Yet another Saturday of perfect weather.  It was 54 degrees when I was driving, very nice for mid November.

I had a very enjoyable ride, taking my time, scanning the scenery, and breathing the fresh air.  Towards the end of the first lap I thought the bike was handling funny.  Is that wind pushing me around?  (It was gusty, especially outside the protection of the woods.)  No, that would be a front tire with about 0.75 psi in it.  I stopped to change out the tube.  I really did not spend much time trying to identify what kind of flat it was.

 I really do not do this often enough to

think about tubeless, but I'm thinking

about tubeless.

Back to the car after the first lap I pumped so more air into the front tire.  A single 12g CO2 cartridge lets you inflate and ride but it leaves you babying it until you can get more air.  Hmmm... ride more?  I'd like to, but no spare tube to carry.  Note to self: I should keep a couple spare tubes in the car.

I started a second lap hoping to not experience a second flat or I'd be walking or using a patch kit trailside.  The day was getting late and I still wanted to do yard work at home, so I figured I'd bail out at an access road crossing.  Well, I was having too much fun so I kept riding.

 The Cradle.

About 25 pedal strokes before emerging from the wood onto the furnace I once again wondered why the bike was handling funny.  Wow, the front tire is really noisy on the trail.  Yeah, it was flat again.  At the last tire change I had swept the inside of the tire looking for debris but never found it. 

So, I finished my ride the same way Noah and I finished our night hike, with a walk up the Furnace and back to the car.

Wilmot Ride in Perfect Light

32 degrees, frosted grass, and full-on sunshine... Ryan and I rolled out of Apple Creek headed towards Wilmot.  Sometimes it just feels good to be bundled up, breathing cold air, and pedaling through the country side.  That was the case this morning.

 We saw some cool looking clouds on the ride.

We rode a gravel road around the back side of the Wilderness Center.  Then we road past the building at the Wilderness Center and into Wilmot.  The sun had been in our face our on our left so far.  Coming out of Wilmot it would be at our back or right side the rest of the way.

 Gravel riding into the sun.

The Wilderness Center.

The air was crisp and the colors of fall were on display beneath a vivid, blue sky.  The low light of the morning was perfect for pictures.

 Ryan had the camera out too.

Coming out of Wilmot, and heading west, we were on a state route with a big buggy lane.  I looked ahead and saw a couple Amish riders.  I had to get a picture of Ryan latching on to the Amish peloton.  While I nearly bit it riding through a pot hole one handed, I got the picture.

We only wheel sucked a little bit

after catching on.

We huffed and puffed on a couple short hills while heading north on Apple Creek Road and soon were back to Ryan's house.  It was a great morning on the bike.

Self portrait.

Daylight Leak

Made it out to the knob after work for a ride.  I had hoped to be riding by 4:30, knowing sunset was at 6:22 tonight.  It was after 5:00 by the time I unloaded my bike and was ready to roll.  Oh well, maybe just one lap.  Plus, I was not sure how I'd be feeling with the incessant cough still hanging on.

This was the sun status as I drove the dirt road

to the Knob about 5pm.  It was gettin' down.

It was warm, I think the car display said 63 when I pulled in.  Shorts and short sleeves were just right.  The course was in good shape too.  They added some pallets in the typical puddles of Mazeville and they seem to be making a difference.

After finishing the first lap the sun was getting low, but I figured a partial second lap was in order.  At the first opportunity to short cut back I kept riding.  At the second opportunity, top of the Furnace, I could see my car and knew the sun was nearly done for the day.  Too much fun, I kept riding.

It was 6:35 when I made it back to the car after lap number two.  The sun had set but there was plenty of light remaining.  Good times.