Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Yeah, I'm gonna whine about my thumb some more.

Sunday I put in a decent ride on the mtb. Things were feeling pretty good. As long as I held the bar tightly my thumb was fine. The minute I loosened my grip to, oh let say brake on a rocky descent, the vibrations would work my thumb over. Rode for about 2.75 hours and really didn't feel too worse for wear...until later that day when I was doing a little work on my fixed gear. The small motor operation of removing crank bolts was antagonisingly uncomfortable.

Monday was a big delivery day for me at work so, everything seemed pretty status quo.

Tuesday was one of the larger production days I've had in a while, and I feel I set myself back a step or two on Sunday. Mobility seems slightly reduced, and if I "over reach" there is a sharp pain.

Last night I started getting my Singular ready for The MT Ascutney Hillclimb. I figured if I can't race it offroad, why not up a hill? I borrowed some narrow road clinchers and tubes from Charlie B. Installed the rear no problem, but moving on to the front I just couldn't get the bead over the edge of the rim. Finally I resorted to levers...and promptly punctured the tube with said levers.
I work the bead back off the rim, find a suspect tube of my own, put it in, and...puncture that one too.

My Mom is always going on about "meant to be's", maybe racing my Singular on Saturday is just not meant to be?

I sleep on it and when I woke this morning, I figured I give it one last shot. I patch Charlie's tube (boy did I do a number on it!; 2 spots!), generously coat it in baby powder, and persevere in getting that bead on without levers. I succeed!

I add a link to my chain, so I can run a larger cog, adjust my chain tension...and what's that sound? Air escaping from my front tire?!
The valve failed!!
Seriously?
It doesn't even have a replaceable core, so I need to take the bead off again, find a tube to patch or heaven forbid actually buy one (which I have to do anyways since I ruined Charlie's), and work the tire back on.
NO MAS!
It's not even 6:00 AM, and my thumb is ready for a nap.

I guess Marble Design Racing will be heading to VT instead of Singular...unless I convince people that Singular is coming out with a large tubed aluminum bike?

1 comment:

Fort James said...

It ia those last minute bike repairs that always come back to haunt us. I had to replace a tire last week two days before a race and the thing just would not hold air overnight. It did hold up for the race, but because of rain, it turned out to be a poor choice (Python and muddy roots do not mix well). The best tire for the job would have been a Bontrager tire, which would have held air without a sealant and with only a floor pump.

So my advice, ride the big tubed aluminum bike!

WV = bragg, like bragg about your victory this weekend at the hillclimb?