Cycling, puncture, hippo.
Today was rough — I punctured — I will never forgive the hippo.
I don’t puncture; I’m the envy of my cycling friends. It’s not that I don’t ride either, in a good year I routinely put in a couple thousand miles and knock out a half-dozen centuries.
I can even climb Alpe d’Huez faster than Cheryl Crow (64 minutes; I’m in yellow).
But today, a block from work, I nailed a pot hole and knew instantly I was done in. I’m unable to accurately articulate the emotional stress my puncturing caused — I was distraught at work for at least an hour. It’s a point of pride for me. I felt rejected: “What my precious little tube, you no longer want to ride with me?”
Since I’m so confident in my puncture-free streak I don’t carry a spare tube, pump, tools, anything, so I need to bring a full complement tomorrow to fix it. When I told a friend over IM I had punctured, his response: “FINALLY!”
The hippo in happier times — stupid, happy hippo.
Leaning on the bike, waiting for the boat to dock in Seattle — moments before my fateful meeting.
Lunch today at Chuck’s Hole in the Wall — it’s ok, but I long for the South.
Now you’ve really arrived! My husband had those over and over on the Seattle side, causing him to miss the ferry home by minutes. Aggravating for all of us! Hope you get back on your lucky streak.
Man, I’ve gotten three flats in the past two months - prior to that I was lucky to get maybe one a year. I’ve swapped my tires out for some Bontrager Race Lite Hard Cases - the mechanic at the shop up the street was all hopped up about them. We’ll see how they last through a Chicago winter.
It is about time!
Having the original tubes last through three sets of tires is unfathomable to me. If you really don’t want to carry the patch kit and pump I whole-heartedly endorse tubeless tires and Stan’s No-Tubes. It certainly got me through some riding last summer. Just keep riding when you puncture and it most cases it has sealed automatically for me. The only exception was a sidewall puncture and a defective tire which completely delaminated.
@Wendy: I’m only a couple of blocks from the ferry on the Seattle so I’m hopeful I could always push the bike fast enough to make the ferry … perfect cyclocross training!
@Jeff: Ouch, I hadn’t heard of the tires, I’ll check them out. My Performance-loving friend has suggested I try their cheap, but serviceable, $20 tires. My LBS is pushing Schwalbe tires, which are essentially bomb-proof but not cheap and *damn* heavy.
@chuck: Interesting idea. I swapped out the bolts on the rack and fenders this weekend so they use the same bolt head as the panniers. Tonight I’m ordering a new quick release skewer for the rear (replacing the bolts) so *hopefully* the tool set will amount to a single allen wrench. Still, no tools, as you know, is best for me.