Yesterday I was scheduled to ride for 3 + hours. Up here in the Bradshaw Mountains my training courses are limited to lots of climbing, descending and tight switchbacks.
We had continuous strong winds in the range of 25 - 30 mph. Funnel those winds into mountain cuts, cliffs and ravines and you get frequent gusts in the 40+ mph range. So I drove about 40 miles south and 3,500 feet lower in elevation to train on a flatter, less dangerous surface.
The plan was to do a 50 mile out and back on Eagle Eye Road from Aguila on US 60 to Salome Road. The road quality is excellent. And there is virtually no traffic. At worst, a vehicle comes by every 30 - 45 minutes.
I used my Bacchetta Ti Aero recumbent bike, as I typically do for training rides. As well, I recently bought a rear Zipp wheel with a Power Tap.
On the return leg of the training ride, with 12 miles to go, I noticed the rear tire getting `soft.' A very slow leak. I'm guessing it was a `pinch flat' as I crossed a particularly rough cattle guard early on.
Here is how I discovered what I had done wrong.
Zipp wheels are notorious for being hard for mounting tires. Worse, wire beaded tires are harder to mount on a wheel than `foldable' tires. Even worse, Conti wire bead Hard Shell Gatorskin tires mounted on a Zipp wheel ... you're lookin' for trouble if you get a flat.
It was a bitch getting the tire off the wheel. Because the rear wheel is a Zipp I use tubes with 80 mm valve stems. I carried two extra tubes. I punctured both tubes trying to get them on the Zipp wheel, under the Conti Gatorskin.
There I was. 4pm in the middle of the desolate Arizona desert with a flat that could not be fixed, 12 miles of empty desert from anybody or anything.
I wound up stuffing desert shrubbery (twicks, sticks, grass, dried out cattle dung) into the tire. That gave me sufficient `filler' in the tire to limp back at 9 - 10 mph.
The Lessons:
1. Don't ride the empty desert with fancy wheels;
2. Don't use fancy wire bead tires on the Zipp;
3. Think this stuff through before blithely heading off into a location with no resources.
While I was `limping' home on my spongey rear tire a total of 3 vehicles passed me. My life wasn't at risk but I placed myself in great risk of discomfort.
Part of the interest I have in cycling `out here' has to do with the challenge of difficult situations.
I'm fortunate to find meaning in adversity and problems. But I have to do more thinking.
I just got a 650 CA 2.0 with Zipp 404 wheels. I put a new set of Conti GP 4000 tires on it. No tool needed at all. I do remember fighting with Gatorskins. Never again.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense, Butch. I've been using two sets of tire liners on all my wheels, too. Short of pinch flats the tire liners seem to have reduced the number of flats I get out here. The Gatorskins are manageable on my other wheels. But I've been stopped cold with them on the Zipps.
ReplyDeleteDan, I've spilled quite a little blood trying to put tires on my Zipp 650's. My training wheels are also really tight. I use Michelins for racing with the Zipp's. They are doable but very tight. For training I use Vrednestein Fortezza's. They are much looser and go on quite easily. And they are fairly durable. Dennis
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dennis. Just ordered the VF and look forward to seeing a difference.
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