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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

On bad inner tubes and new goals achieved.

I have done it! I made it to the far end of the Hamilton Beach multiuse trail and back by bike. No fossil fuels were used in my 140km journey. See, here's the screen shot from my Garmin software:

Alright, I didn't exactly set any speed records but actually I need to take a few days off because frankly I think there are parts of my knees and upper back that are pretty much in open rebellion against the rest of the body.

Anyway the plan, last night was to ride with the Beaches Cycle Club, I got up in time, got dressed got out the door and made it about halfway up the hill on Kingston road when my back inner-tube failed. I would like to think I am reasonably good at changing a tube, but I'm not that good. By the time I made it to where the club was meeting they had already left, hence Hamilton Beach.

When I was nearly home I saw a cyclist with his back wheel off and a tube in his hand. I offered help, it turned out he did not have a spare tube and the hole in his tube was unpatchable. Recalling the guy in Oakville who gave me his spare CO2 cartridge, I gave the guy close to home my second spare and my CO2 cartridge - he was going to hand pump 120psi. As soon as we started inflating his tire, the tube burst, there was a huge gouge in his tire. Ultimately the guy called his wife and she had to drive him down a new tire and tube, I on the other hand have no spares of tubes or air, so I really cannot go for a long ride again until tomorrow at the earliest when the bike stores reopen.

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