I nearly always ride with my camera for various reasons, but mostly because when I don't have it I wish I'd brought it. On a recent ride through Sierra Valley I passed this group of bees on the side of the road. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I did stop and watch for a bit.
My other random event of the week was on my intended "long ride". I had this amazing route planned out, but just before I climbed the pass to get out of town I heard a bang. I pulled over and looked at my tire..... damn. It wasn't just a simple flat, the tire decided to give up before we even began. There was a huge hole. I whipped the cell phone out and made a couple calls. All I got was voice mail. I guess people have to work sometime. Left on my own at the top of Geiger Grade was a little intimidating. I was almost to the summit (6700 ft) when the blowout happened and it was going to be a hairy descent to get back to the valley floor.
I left the cell phone sitting out just in case someone happened to call back to rescue me while I was trying to fix the tire.
With no returning phone calls I got to work on the problem. I tried putting a bar wrapper inside the tire and putting a new tube in, but at about 35 psi the tube started pushing the bar wrapper out through the hole. This wasn't going to work. Suddenly an idea struck me. About 10 minutes later I was on my way back down Geiger and to the nearest bike shop.
I ended up wrapping the tube as tightly as I could around the wheel while keeping it as thin as possible. Then I loosened the brake (actually I had no rear brake). Front brake only, I crossed my fingers and toes as I slowly descended the pass. Fortunately there is a bike shop near the bottom and I made it there with no further incident. I got a look of disbelief when I told them this happened at the top of Geiger. New tire in place I continued on with my ride.
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