Two Flats and a Blind Eye Bike Ride
A number of years ago someone on Strava.com named the segment on FM 1960 over Lake Houston “the bridge of doom”. Today I experienced the “doom” riding over something sharp resulting in a flat rear tire. I was biking the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route and setting a nice pace intending to finish around 2 pm after starting at 11:21 am. The weather during the ride: start 85 (61% humidity), a few clouds, wind S 14 mph, gusts 21 mph. Finish 87 (56% humidity), partly cloudy, wind S 12 mph. Enjoying the beautiful sunshine and feeling good wearing shorts and a short sleeve jersey with sunscreen.
The sunscreen was good for the sun but did nothing for the flat tire. The flat happened at the 17.7 mile point. The road is very noisy with passing traffic so my first decision: walk back to Atascocita Shores Drive and fix the flat there or walk east to Cedar Landing Restaurant and fix it there. Going back was 7/10 of a mile while going to Cedar Landing was about a mile. I chose Cedar landing and walked. It took about 28 minutes to walk from the scene of the flat to Cedar Landing.
This is a photo of the Canyon after arriving at Cedar Landing but before I took the rear wheel off to fix the flat. The tire looks okay in the grass but it is flat on the bottom.
Usually it takes some searching to find the cause of the flat but thanks to the white powder inside the tube blowing out I found the hole quickly. I checked the tire for anything sticking inside and didn’t find anything. I patched the tube without using my “marker” screw because the cut was about 3/16″ long and easy to see even through the glue. Tube patched, aired up to check my work and back inside the tire. I should have looked closer at the tire but more on that later.
Back on the Canyon I continued following the route around to Huffman where I stopped to refill my water bottle before heading out for the remaining 11+ miles.
All went well until the 30.7 mile point when the rear tire went flat again just south of Town Center Park. Sitting in the shade under a tree by Chase Bank I fixed the hole which looked strange like maybe a spoke caused the puncture. I looked at the rim strip and couldn’t find anything. One lady exiting the drive thru ATM asked if I needed any help but I told her I had a patch kit and was okay saying thank you. I can’t remember how long ago I had two flats on the same ride. I can remember a ride at Coldspring, TX where that happened but that is it.
Tire patched and pumped up I got back on the Canyon for the 3+ miles to the finish. No more problems and finished after 3 pm. Wanting to air up the tire for the next ride I attached the pump and as I almost got to 95 psi the tube popped again. This time I figured I would need to replace the tube. Removing the tube the hole was like the second flat. This time I inspected the tire and found a slit which the tube pushed through when I aired it up and then burst. I got a new tire and what I thought was a tube that would work but the valve stem was too short. Now I need to go to Bike Werks to get the right tube.
What a day with flats. I could have prevented the last two if I put a “boot” inside the tire at the first flat but I didn’t see the slit.
More great weather on tap for Friday. I plan on riding but will skip the flats, I hope.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
