TIRE BOOT
It's been one of those days for the Giddyup Girlz---full of the unexpected, good and not-so-much-so. We spent the night last night at a basic little motel on Long Lake, NY and threw a few horseshoes before calling it a night. They had a shuffleboard court, too, but I don't understand that game well enough to even fake it. This morning I got up and bathed and was enjoying the 5 minutes of the day when I don't smell like a goat, when I realized that my rear wheel was flat again. I changed it in no time, washed some of the grease off my hands, and we hit the road. Rear wheels are only a little more annoying to change because of the grease and the chain. First stop, the post office, which was closed. Second stop, the gas station to top off the air in the tire. We were feeling so high---for one thing, we were getting an early start. For us. It wasn't 10 yet, which was an improvement to one of the days last week when we started riding after 1pm. Sometimes it just takes a little while to find your mojo!
So, on those good feelings that the sun was shining, the tires had air and we had a short mileage day in the mountains, we pulled into a diner and I decided it was a perfect day for pancakes. That was a mistake. When we left the diner, my rear tire was flat again. This time I was a little aggravated, and I gave everything a really close inspection, remembering all the things that have happened to all my friends' wheels over the years---from rim tape troubles, to spokes popping the wheel---rubs/rips/tears/ and all the rest. I zeroed in on a sidewall gash, and was glad to have brought some tire boot on the trip. "Where is the tire boot?", Kami asked as I was dumping my repair kit on the hot asphalt. "It's in the same place *your* spare tire is.....in our panniers in the trunk of a rented Taurus which was last seen driving to Vermont with your parents behind the wheel....". About this time, the aforementioned pancakes began rearranging themselves into a medicine ball-like object in my stomach. At least it cast some shade. Now, tire boot is not that big of a deal. A mechanic named Pete once told us that you could use a PowerBar wrapper or a dollar bill if you needed to. He also told me that if I got a puncture and didn't have a spare or a patch kit, I could cut the tire, knot it and ride it on in like that. "It'll be a bumpy ride, fer sure, but you'll make it!". SO, I remembered what my friend and mechanic Mike said about Duct tape---blog readers might remember the mantra with the naughty word that rhymes with "duck", and I got out the tape and booted it that way. So, we're off. The sun had taken up its usual noon time position and hammered us as climbed and descended the Adirondack Mountains. THIS time I got up to a NEW high speed which was almost but not quite equal to my age---and I had a "close encounter of the car kind", but one that I foresaw and avoided. The teenaged driver didn't come out of the situation as well as I did, according to Kami who rode up on the aftermath of the near-accident. I scared the driver pretty bad, as she realized what almost happened.
We got to spend a lot of time today with our Maine cross country cycling family of Andrew, Shirley and Noah. Noah, 14, is a kick in the pants---he is rougher on his bike than I am on mine, and today he was working on a broken spoke nipple. He's worn that thing out, and is such a good sport about it. He's the only cross country cyclist I've met this year who has carried the new Harry Potter book AND LEGOS. He rocks!!! They had a "mail pick up" of general delivery that was sent to them in North Hudson, and being the generous family that they are, they wanted to share their chocolate covered espresso beans and treats they had just received themselves with us. There's a special kind of friendship amongst those of us who've been on the road this summer---there's nothing I wouldn't do to help these people. I would give them anything they needed--- from a squished peanut butter sandwich to tire boot to my bicycle if they wanted it. And, I know they would do the same for me.
We are in Schroon Lake for the evening, coasting into MIDDLEBURY VT tomorrow. There's a movie theater in this town, but the feature has sunk to a new depth: THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS. Man, I could make a movie about some traveling pants. But, I'm not sure anyone would be any more interested in it than I am in the one that's showing!
So, on those good feelings that the sun was shining, the tires had air and we had a short mileage day in the mountains, we pulled into a diner and I decided it was a perfect day for pancakes. That was a mistake. When we left the diner, my rear tire was flat again. This time I was a little aggravated, and I gave everything a really close inspection, remembering all the things that have happened to all my friends' wheels over the years---from rim tape troubles, to spokes popping the wheel---rubs/rips/tears/ and all the rest. I zeroed in on a sidewall gash, and was glad to have brought some tire boot on the trip. "Where is the tire boot?", Kami asked as I was dumping my repair kit on the hot asphalt. "It's in the same place *your* spare tire is.....in our panniers in the trunk of a rented Taurus which was last seen driving to Vermont with your parents behind the wheel....". About this time, the aforementioned pancakes began rearranging themselves into a medicine ball-like object in my stomach. At least it cast some shade. Now, tire boot is not that big of a deal. A mechanic named Pete once told us that you could use a PowerBar wrapper or a dollar bill if you needed to. He also told me that if I got a puncture and didn't have a spare or a patch kit, I could cut the tire, knot it and ride it on in like that. "It'll be a bumpy ride, fer sure, but you'll make it!". SO, I remembered what my friend and mechanic Mike said about Duct tape---blog readers might remember the mantra with the naughty word that rhymes with "duck", and I got out the tape and booted it that way. So, we're off. The sun had taken up its usual noon time position and hammered us as climbed and descended the Adirondack Mountains. THIS time I got up to a NEW high speed which was almost but not quite equal to my age---and I had a "close encounter of the car kind", but one that I foresaw and avoided. The teenaged driver didn't come out of the situation as well as I did, according to Kami who rode up on the aftermath of the near-accident. I scared the driver pretty bad, as she realized what almost happened.
We got to spend a lot of time today with our Maine cross country cycling family of Andrew, Shirley and Noah. Noah, 14, is a kick in the pants---he is rougher on his bike than I am on mine, and today he was working on a broken spoke nipple. He's worn that thing out, and is such a good sport about it. He's the only cross country cyclist I've met this year who has carried the new Harry Potter book AND LEGOS. He rocks!!! They had a "mail pick up" of general delivery that was sent to them in North Hudson, and being the generous family that they are, they wanted to share their chocolate covered espresso beans and treats they had just received themselves with us. There's a special kind of friendship amongst those of us who've been on the road this summer---there's nothing I wouldn't do to help these people. I would give them anything they needed--- from a squished peanut butter sandwich to tire boot to my bicycle if they wanted it. And, I know they would do the same for me.
We are in Schroon Lake for the evening, coasting into MIDDLEBURY VT tomorrow. There's a movie theater in this town, but the feature has sunk to a new depth: THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS. Man, I could make a movie about some traveling pants. But, I'm not sure anyone would be any more interested in it than I am in the one that's showing!
posted by Laurel @ 4:37 PM
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