Well, I did it again. After vowing to never say the words "flat tyre" after my last flat tyre, I got another flat today. Lucky though - I didn't realise I had a flat till I got home and took the bike out of the car and as the back tyre made contact with the ground - the usual bouncy nature was replaced with a thump.
Before I go on to explain my attempt at changing the tyre I will have you know I rode really well this morning. A few of us set out for a 2hr ride at 6am and from the get go the pace was on. I managed to attack the hills again as best I could after last night's track session (which I will go on to explain a little later) really took it out of my legs. The other thing that was bothering me again was my back - always on the left hand side - can't it just ever give me a break.
On the way back the tempo really started to pick up again and right at the end Sue and I decided to hammer it home. The last bit has a decent and then it is flat to the truck stop - it was here Sue and I managed to gain a maximum speed of 52km/hr and hold it to the end (not far), but enough for it to burn the legs and for me to be giddy with excitement. During this time I tried to really focus on the full pedal revolution as I was told that I pedal using my hamstrings and therefore drive the bike on the upstroke.
Somewhere in that last stretch I heard a bit of a POP and thought that sound belonged to a passing car - but I was wrong. Lucky it was a slow leak. Needless to say today I had my first tyre changing experience - and believe me I spoke to myself every step of the way to make sure I did it in the right order. Anyone would have thought I was performing brain surgery. Here are some photos - PROOF of my adventure.
Flat tyre
Inner tube out
Nasty critter No 1.
Nasty critter No 2
Partially inflated new tube
Tube in, wheel on - Hey Presto
It actually wasn't as hard as I had imagined it to be. I guess my next ride will be the test to see if I have done it properly. During this experience I actually had to do most of it sitting down as my legs were/are extremely sore from last night's track.
- 1.2km warm up
- 3 x 800, 800, 400 - all 800's done in under 4mins
- 2 x 1km efforts - 1st - 4:58, 2nd - 4:55
- 400m cool down
I loathe changing tires! But the more you have to do it, the faster you get at it, so you're getting a good start on it, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've found that, as with so many things, if you try to hurry, it goes really slow. Also, CO2 cartridges are worth their weight in gold when you are out on a ride.
ReplyDeletegreat job Barbie.
ReplyDeleteI still need to perfect the art of changing a tire. I am terribly slow at it!
ReplyDelete