Sunday, September 20, 2009

one more thing....


Why can't I change a tire?


Not this one.....
____________________________

This one.....






~It started with a beautiful 79 degree day and Red Rover and I are going for 60. Seagull Century is breathing down my back and I must get this ride in.

Red and I were having a marvelous ride when, wobble, wobble, wobble....."oh know....." Standing on a grassy knoll next to a fried chicken dive I'm changing this biznatch. Love Red Rover, hate changing tires. I'm so Type A, I'm determined to get this. I'm giving myself a pep talk in my head the whole time.

I take the old tube off and lay it on grass, grab new tube and CO2 cartridge to put some air in the new tube. I'm twisting this gizmo contraption when air starts squealing out and frantically I'm trying to attach it to the valve. Yep, too much air escapes and the cartridge goes dead. Soooonnaafaaaa...

Standing their with chicken grease waving in my direction a truck pulls up. Gentleman leans out and says, "what's the problem?" WTH? I broke a nail, what does it look like? The southern lady I am I respond in a polite way, "I just have a flat, I'll be alright-thanks." The big ol' brotha (he was huge!) decides chivalry is certainly not dead and decides to park his truck in the dive parking lot to help me.

He's decided to school this white chick. He says, "I'm gonna teach you how to put this on right, watch me and then put your hands here." His lesson started sounding like I was having "you know" for the first time. He grabs the second C02 tank and says, "How do you work this?" He grabs gizmo thing and starts the whole twisting motion when air starts squealing out-and we lose the tank. I want to curse but I give an awkward smile and say, "that's ok, I'll call my husband."

Honestly, he was so sweet and was worried sick about leaving me. "Are you sure your husband is coming?" "I could stay until your husband comes." :)

Hubs comes and we load up Red and head home. When we get home he starts pumping air into the new tire and it's not holding air. Hubs says, "did he put the bad tube back on?" What?!? Both tubes were laying on the grass together, did I hand the nice gentleman the bad tube and not the good one? ::::Smacking Head::::: So now I'm gonna get schooled again by my hubs on how to change this biznatch. Finally, we get the tire changed and I'm on my way again.

5 things I randomly saw

1.) Are Krispy Kreme trucks taunting me?

2.) 2 Motorcycle Dudes pulled up next to me and said,
"want to race?"

3.) Why do old people in 77' Buick Electra's hate me?

4.) Funny bumper sticker:
"Lost Your Cat?
Try Looking Under Your Tires"

5.) Chivalry is not dead!

16 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm not so good with the CO2 cartridges either. So I have a small frame pump - works well enough. maybe think about getting one as a backup...

Kevin said...

I am so afraid of that happening to me with the CO2 tanks that I found a small hand pump that wedges nicely between my saddle bag and my behind the seat bottle holder

Wes said...

I got me a pump AND C02 cartrides, but I'm taking the pump off for the race this weekend.

You have to have a special valve to only put in a little air. Put the tube in, make sure the sides aren't pinched, and blow that sucker up :-)

Chivalry may not be dead, but sometimes it does more harm then good! OK. ALOT of times... LOL...

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

You can NEVER practice that too much. Makes me want to go in the garage and change my tube..

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Hahahaha! Classic, sister! You gave that poor trucker the bad tube!

Man, if he gave you the "bad tube", that would sound like you were doing ... you know ... with him.

I actually think you WERE doing ... you know ... with him, which is why this post is written in ...

You know ...

code ...

But I cracked the code.

Was it ... you know ... good for you? I mean getting "the bad tube" from your trucker friend?

Tonight, I shall give Morrissey "the bad tube". Just so you ... you know ... know ...

Shannon said...

Welcome back "G"!!! Now go gargle with scope, actually swallow it and take a cold shower!!! LOL

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RunToTheFinish said...

so glad that a nice person stopped to attempt to help...though when you are already frustrated sometimes help just is not what you have on the agenda!

Gotta Run..... said...

remember... it took me almost 45 minutes and watching youtube 3 times to get mine changed. Scott kept offering to do it but I refused. What a workout!! :))))

If I were in an event they would have packed up and been home drinking beer by the time I got my shitz together.

MarkW said...

Yeah, I helped someone on a century ride who forgot their kit - spare tube and all. Said they had some tubes in the car at the finish and would pay me back. They did.

About 2 months later I get a flat. No problem just pull out the kit and the spare.

When I took the rubber band off the tube, I thought it looked kind of small. It was. They paid me back with a 650 tube and not a 700! No good deed goes unpunished!

The patch kit came in handy.

triguyjt said...

i got the hand pump and my own secret bubba who is always near if I flat... lol!!

ShirleyPerly said...

Sometimes I think a good ol fashioned mini pump is easier than the C02 cartridges. That said, I usually just blow air into my tubes to get a little air into them before putting them into my tire. That way there's one less chance I screw up (often I don't need more than one!).

X-Country2 said...

I got stranded on the side of the highway with a flat on Friday too! I knew exactly what I was doing but the stem broke just as I was taking the pump off. DAMNIT!

Missy said...

I actually practice multiple times before all races - hubs makes me. Totally sucks, I hate it but I'm better at it. My hand strength is my limiter for sure.

Stuart said...

LOL! Don't forget you need to reinflate using a pump after C02 as there's a decrease due to the disipation of the 'C', maybe a pump is the way to go?!?

Trihardist said...

Yep, get a frame pump. CO2 seems like the way to go. Geeky triathletes love those kinds of gizmos. But bottom line? They're just not very practical, for precisely what happened to you today. Learn how to use them for race day (when carrying a pump is going to add wait and drag to your rig), but on training rides, stick with a frame pump.

For that matter, I guess what I did for my 70.3 was tuck my pump in my jersey pocket with a tube and levers in case I flatted. Anything shorter than a half, I'll just wait for the SAG wagon; if I flat in a sprint, my day's done anyway.