My First Flat Tire.... and again.. and again...

Sooo... I finally got my first flat tire last Wednesday. ( yup, I'm slow to get my blogs up these days)

I was riding along nicely. It was a great weather day to ride.. a little overcast a tad windy..but not too hot. On the return trip I started noticing how bumpy my ride seemed kind of like you were rolling over rumble strips or a crack in the pavement. I tried to look back and see if I could tell if my tire was low and sure enough.. it was. CRAP! I had never really gotten a flat tire on a ride before. I had seen people change them, and even offered my hand to help.. but ME MYSELF.. had never changed my own.

Well, no time like the present. Fortunately I was not alone on my ride so I had someone experienced with me who could tell me how badly I was doing things. He kindly offered to do it for me or let me try to figure it out on my own. I bravely opted for the latter.

Of course, it was the rear wheel so I was just GOING to get greasy. But geeeesh... who didn't clean my chain before I rode? I should fire them. Isn't someone supposed to do that for you?
So I got the wheel off and started to pry off the tire, got my tube, CO2(which I had bought this lil hand held co2 thingy and never used it either). Got my tire sort of aligned on my wheel.. tube inside it.. and yay.. Ok.. I think I was ready to inflate. I have to admit, I was pretty excited to use my CO2 for the first time. I guess I was over excited tho because when I started to squeeze and feel how cold everything got I all of a sudden had to 'hit the deck' because somewhere in the trees there was a gunshot! Can you beliecve it? Oh wait.. just kidding. It was my tube EXPLODING! whoops!

I looked at my friend in disbelief, and shock, ....ok.. and a little bit like.. WOW that was pretty cool! So... again, took off tube, tire, put tube back on, tire, inflate.. NOT TOO MUCH.. and then the hard part of getting my wheel back on my bike. MAN OH MAN.. why is it really such a pain?
(Well, because I didn't know what I was doing and was kinda doing it wrong. Thank goodness I had 'guidance.' Finally after about a half hour (literally) I was ready to roll again.. haa haa.. (literally..man I crack myself up today).

Oh yah I forgot to mention that there was glass in my tire. I pulled it out and thought I had it all. But the next day when I went to ride, my tire was flat again. This time I had my pit crew with me and they took care of it MUCH.. MUCH MUCH.. faster thatn I had done. And THENNNNN.. the next day my tire was flat again!!!! Apparently I still must have glass in my tire or this is God's way of telling me I need to get faster at changing flats so he is giving me lots of opportunities to change them?

I will have to admit tho, changing my own flat for the first time.. was a bit empowering! I had always wondered what I would do if I was ever on the road by myself and had a flat.. if I would be able to figure it out. I feel so much better and more confident.

Even if you don't have a real flat... it's probably a good idea to let the air out of your tubes and try it. So many people have told me to do that before and to practice.. of course I never did.

Ah well.. now I'm in the club right? Is there a club for this? There should be! I ride with some women sometimes that have stated that if they get a flat they will just call their husbands, or someone to come pick them up. They don't even carry tubes or air. Silly girls!

It's even fun to get a little greasy......

:-)