This is the best BikeLife film so far. How do I know this? Because everything went wrong. My plan was grand, dramatic, and sexy but the New Mexico day had other ideas for me. There was the crash followed by more punctures than I could handle. And when that wasn’t enough my pump broke leaving me stranded a long way from home. But, this is when the plan ended and the adventure began. Sure, not optimal but you realize “This is going to be just fine.” Plan A becomes Plan B and we find our way home, one way or another. Even when the best ride becomes the worst ride….it’s still a ride. Enjoy it.
Comments 11
hey, um, drones don’t fly through bushes…
btw, how many watts were you pushing on that flat front? what was the incline percentage? cadence? did you get a strava kom?
Author
Sean,
I actually thought of you and thought “Fuc%$%$ Slavin would McGyver his way out of this situation, easily.” I hit all my numbers over those ten miles. Man, that front end with flat fire is like being on ice. I could not clip in and kept almost eating it.
oh, i always wanted to be mcgyver… or clancy’s john clark… or cussler’s dirk pitt. actually, i think pitt is the top of the list. he’s kind of like all of them wrapped into one. plus he has all the cool toys.
yea, front flats in the dirt suck. based on the ride location, i’m assuming your punctures are thorn related. 1) you should drop some sealant into your tubes. 2) after taking out flat tube, run your fingers along the inside of the tire to see if you feel any sharp pointy things. if you do, dig them out otherwise they will just puncture the next tube you put in.
glad you got your strava kom. that’s the most important…
Author
Sean,
Oh ya, I did. With that first puncture I slid my hand around and it was like a pincushion of black thorns about a half-inch long and like steel. There is no tire out there, beside the Schwalbe, that would handle that. Tubeless is way to go but I’m changing tires all the time so want to skip it for now. John Clark is great. Dirk is somewhat new to me. I need guidance.
Hi Dan, you’re riding on tubeless tires, not? I always carry 2 spare inner tubes, tubeless or not. Patched my heavily outer tube once with wrapping a part of a spare inner around it.
You’re right, you always find your way here home one way or another.
Author
Reiner,
Nope, I was running tubes. Tubalitos actually, which I really like but I had SO many punctures I ran out of tubes then my pump broke. I actually had to toss both Tubalitos because they were so patched. A real bummer as they are $30 per.
Glad you made it out ok. Well, not surprised, really. Wyoming kid and all. Still, one of these times, it’s going to be a full on lost in the desert, peyote vision quest (I mean that reverentially), end up in Hudson Bay sort of adventure. That’s what I’m sticking around for.
Author
Scott,
Standing in a sun god robe on a pyramid with a thousand naked people screaming and throwing little pickles at me.
This was great! Ok so I’m a new bike rider here in NJ. Temperature was about 42 the other day so I went for a ride, ignoring the wind chill factor. After coming home with what felt like frost bite in the toes and fingers I decided I need some advice. Any of you have a line of gloves, socks etc. that can be used in this weather?
Thanks!
Author
Paul,
Hands, feet and head are CRITICAL. I would simply Google or YouTube that very question. There are plenty of good cycling gloves and socks out there. I use a pair of Beyond gloves that were not designed for cycling but they work great. And I wear a hiking liner than a wool sock and have been just fine. You can also get windproof shoe covers if it gets super cold.
EPIC man. I can’t tell you how many times I was ‘stranded”. Of course Ernesto was there to weld the trailer hitch back on the car (actually happened). Ah good times!