Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Isn't this why I'm on a trainer to begin with?

Got up at 5:30 this morning to hop on the trainer for half of my regen time today. Didn't want to get up at 5 again, and I don't have time to do an hour ~ tonight. So, I get on my gear, hop on the trainer and start up the Garmin.

Hmm, that's a weird sound. I look at the rear tire. It looks okay. But, man, that sounds really weird. I unclip and hop off. Squeeze the rear tire.

Pfft.

It's completely flat.

Oddly enough there was a massive goathead thorn sticking right out at me. I pull it out. How do you get a goathead in your tire while it's on the trainer? The last time I rode outside was Sunday. The bike sat on Monday. I did drills Tuesday morning. So it lasted 2 full days with no problem, but then went flat this morning.

I went out to get the pump, thinking maybe it was just a small leak. :\ Shockingly, no dice. The air is just wooshing out the hole. I tried tape. I was desperate. I didn't have 10-15 minutes to change the tube out.

Nothing else was working, and since I didn't want to wind up 30 minutes short I took the bike off the trainer, flipped it over in the guest bedroom and got to work changing out the tube. Naturally, I couldn't find tire levers. I couldn't get the tire off without them. Out to the garage. No tire levers in either seat bag. Damn.

I headed over to Justin's Park Tool bag of tools and at first glance I thought there was no way in hell I'd find a tire lever even if there were 5 in there. Imagine about 45 tools tossed in an open faced backpack.

Luckily we had just bought two bright orange tire levers not too long ago, and one popped out at me. Phew. Tire removed, back inside to change out the tube.

Only had a momentary snag putting the wheel back on, and off I went. Wound up still getting in 25 minutes.

I don't have an easily functioning camera, so shots tonight. It's too ironic to not get a photo or two.

I'm also excited because I found a decent(er) trainer on sale at REI earlier this week and Justin gave the ok to order it up. It's pink, but it was $60 cheaper than the lime green version, so no complaints from me. It's a sale item, so no rebate $$, but it was also $20 off since I spent over $100. AND, the best part is that if it doesn't work as good as some of the reviews that I read (e.g. it isn't quieter than my current mag trainer and the resistance doesn't work as well as it's supposed to) then I'm just going to return it for store credit or try out the CycleOps Fluid 2 (which some say is similar). Review to come once it is in. I even ordered it to be shipped to the store, so no shipping charges to me. Yay. Now if only it wasn't an hour drive to get there!

Yeah, today is gonna be one of those days. It's our department holiday lunch, and we're heading to Mexican food. What can you get that is healthy at a Mexican restaurant? Side salad with dressing on the side? Cause, I can't find anything else.

1 comment:

Luke said...

goathead...sleep ridin again?

anyway, good on ya for workin through it.