Traci at the rest stop.

Shake Down, Break Down

I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Yesterday was good. Today was bad. The ride didn't turn out as I planned and I left a friend out on the road. I don't like that feeling.

The plan was simple. Traci W. wanted to do a shake down ride with her new bike and paniers so she rode from Dodge City toward my house in Garden City. I rode out to meet her half way and then we pedaled back into town. It was a fun day and the 61 miles slipped away. We had a tough stretch as we turned into the wind for a long uphill section but we made it back to town just in time to enjoy lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant. Then it was on to my house for camping lessons!

Camping on my lawn!

This was a chance for Traci to see if she had forgotten anything or needed to re-evaluate any of her equipment. Traci is planning a 10 day bike tour of the San Juan Islands in Washington state. I watched and learned as she set up her tent in my back yard. I'm not a camper so this was all new to me. She made it look so easy but I'm sure if I would try it would take me hours to do what she did in minutes. I picked her brain about all sorts of biking and camping gear and learned so much. Maybe someday I'll try camping, but I'm not quite there yet. I went to bed with achy knees and shoulders and a tender (a hmmm) lower region. Nothing that a good nights sleep couldn't cure.

Drying her tent on the airport sign as I changed a flat.

Saturday morning started with a low tire. The rear tire has been giving me fits for a while and after having 2 flats on one ride I have started carrying 2 tubes and a frame mounted pump. I aired the tire up and it seemed fine. The morning was beautiful and we were scooting right along. Then things went down hill, and I'm not talking about the road. At the 6 mile mark I noticed the tire dragging and stopped to check. Yup, it was low so I pumped it up. Traci warned me that I would need to change it anyway soon so at the 10 mile mark I stopped again. It was time to change that tube.

Repacking her tent and ready to roll.

I have changed flats before so I got to work. Traci took this opportunity to dry out her rain-fly from her tent, hanging it on the Regional Airport sign. There was a small wire sticking through the tire and after pulling it out and getting the tire back on the rim we were ready to pump. But for some reason the new tube wouldn't take air. Well, rats. We tested the tube before putting it back in but now, nothing. We even wasted a can of air trying to get it inflated. It just wouldn't air up.

Time to pull out spare tube number 2. I took the tire off the rim again and put the next tube on and low and behold, it held. We were back in business and headed down the road. I told Traci that now I had to go all the way to Dodge with her because I didn't have another tube and didn't want to ride back home without one.

Things were going along great until mile 15. You guessed it, the tire was flat again. Now we had to break out Traci's patch kit and fix one of the tubes. It's a pretty simple task if you have the right equipment and Traci does, of course. We found the hole the wire had made and fixed it right up. By this time I was getting pretty good at changing tires but my hands were getting sore and I don't think I'll get the chain grease out for days. I looked at the clock and we had been on the road for almost 3 hours and made 15 miles. Not a good day at all.

Traci riding off in the distance.

We were back on the road and feeling the wind a little more. My heart sank to my toes when my tire went flat AGAIN! We had not even made another 1 1/2 miles. This was not going to work. I was so frustrated and aggravated and disappointed, but I had to call a halt to my part of the ride and send Traci on her way alone. At this rate it would be evening before we made it to Dodge City. I know she's a big girl and riding the roads by herself is nothing new but I still felt like I was abandoning her. A call to my wonderful Hubby had a ride on the way to pick me up, a mere 16.5 miles from home. 

So, I didn't get the mileage I was looking for but I did learn from this experience. I will be getting a patch kit, and carrying canned air along with my pump. I learned that camping is not like living on Mars, but the right equipment is key. I will be getting a new tire to replace my old one, along with some new tubes (I want to start fresh). And I learned that sometimes you have to say, "enough". That was a hard call to make but the right one. I can't thank Traci enough for all her patience and helpful tips. I feel I know a lot more then I did two days ago but still don't know near enough. Right now I'm waiting to hear from her to let me know she made the 45 miles to home without any trouble. Not finishing a ride is a yucky feeling, and knowing I let a friend down even more so. Sorry, Traci.