When I started today’s bike ride the last thing on my mind was having a first time event on my Lynskey Helix bike. I pumped up the tires on both of my bikes to about 80 psi before leaving on the ride aboard my Lynskey Helix at 9:02 AM. That is what probably delayed the ride starting before 9 AM which I was trying to shoot for. I was going to ride my Community Drive – Valley Ranch -Gene Campbell Blvd. route for the first time since July 13th. Since then I have been riding the shorter Community Drive – Cumberland – Oakhurst route. I could feel the Lynskey rolling a little quicker and easier with the newly inflated tires when I began the ride under a nice blue sky.

The ride was going smoothly as I made my way north along US59, over US59, through Valley Ranch, and NW along FM 1314 until the turn onto Fatheree Road so I could ride in front of Porter High School. As soon as I made the turn onto the street in front of the school I heard a swoosh of air. Not sure which tire made the noise I stopped and looked at the rear tire first and then the front. It was the front tire that was flat. This was the first flat on my Lynskey Helix since got it in May. I rotated the tire to look for the cause but couldn’t find anything sticking out or in the tire. I moved to a shady spot, too the front wheel off the Lynskey and looked again to see if I missed anything, nothing stuck out or in. Now I was concerned because the only other time I worked with the Continental Gatorskin tire was to mount it when the rim was new after receiving the Lynskey bike. It was almost impossible to get the tire on and I thought how would I get the tire loose enough to get the tube out. Using my Pedro’s yellow plastic tire tools I got one side of the tire off the Alpha 46 rim without too much of a problem. Now to find the hole. I moved the tube around from the valve looking at the outside of the tube for the hole. Nothing. I tried pumping up the tube to listen for escaping air but the air went out before I could locate the hole. I folded the tube up as pumping it and finally narrowed the location to near the valve. A little more searching and I found the hole on the inside of the tube about 6″ away from the valve.

This meant something on the inside of the rim probably caused the hole. I looked on the inside of the rim under the tire and found the rim strip folded over and not covering a few spoke holes. I think the tube extruded into a hole from my airing up the tire and hit a spoke end. Why this didn’t happen earlier than 1097 miles on the Lynskey I don’t know. While I was fixing the hole a man pulled up in a Chevrolet Suburban and asked if I wanted a ride home or someplace to fix the flat. By then I was comfortable with getting the tube patched and thanked but said I was doing good. A little later another man in a pickup with a trailer stopped and asked if I was okay or needed a lift. I told him I was good and thanked him.

I patched the tube using an unopened tube of glue in the patch kit (thankfully the glue had not dried out), pumped it up to check my work and began putting it back in the tire wondering if I would have as much trouble as I did before. Carefully pushing the tube up into the tire and using the tire tools I got the tire almost back on the rim except for about 8″. I thought that was going to be where I couldn’t get the tire all the way but using the end of Pedro’s tire tool the tire slipped onto the rim. Relieved I attached the pump and started airing the tire up. After what I thought was a lot of pumping the tire wasn’t getting firm but a few more pumps and it firmed up. I pumped it until I couldn’t squeeze the tire, my substitute for an air gauge. I put the wheel back into the fork being careful to not squeeze the brake lever and mess up the disc brake. Tools back where they belong and I got back on the bike to ride to Gene Campbell Blvd.

Now I could enjoy the ride weather and put that first event in the past. There was a slight headwind on the way to Gene Campbell Blvd. but I kept the speed up around 18 mph improving my overall average speed to 14.3 mph. Making the turn at Gene Campbell Blvd. I headed back to the SE on FM 1314 now with a light tailwind. I made a short ride into Cumberland to be sure the ride miles would be at least 36 and then back on FM 1314.

While it was hot the weather has a fall feel to it. Maybe lower humidity and dew point help with that. Weather conditions: start 79 (humidity 84%, dew point 74), a few clouds, wind calm; finish 88 (humidity 61%, dew point 73), a few clouds, wind NW 6 mph.

I changed gears whenever I approached a traffic light going from 35×13 to 35×15 which made starting up again easier on the legs. Highlights from AXS.SRAM.com ride report: 2:00:39 using 35×13 gears or 28.5 miles. Almost a 50 minute difference between moving time (2:51:51) and total elapsed time (3:41:52).