Oh well, it had to happen sometime – I just got my first flat.
Of course, I didn’t have any sort of repair kit with me, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have known what to do with it.
The idea of our rides is that we’ll do them together, so Steve has the repair kit and tools, but I was riding by myself today because he was under the weather.
I also originally had my repair kit, spare tube, etc, in a saddle bag, which Steve bought me before the bike arrived. Who knew that when it did, I would be so short even on a 45 frame that the saddle is banged down flush with the rack and I can’t fit a saddle bag of any sort?
I’ve been looking for a small, neat handlebar bag to carry my toolkit instead, but it will have to wait until next month.
In another irony, yesterday Steve changed the tyres on HIS bike to puncture-resistant Marathons. But I’m the one who’s been living in fear of a flat, so my choice was the even more puncture-resistant Marathon Pluses, which are still sitting in their packaging waiting to be installed.
I can guess what we’ll be doing tomorrow, then…
Of course, breaking down like this wasn’t any sort of issue. After realising what had happened, I pushed my bike up to the nearest farmhouse and asked if I could use the phone. As it happened, they turned out to be English. I phoned home (I was only some 5km away) and a few minutes later, Steve picked me up.
I have been deliberately riding around here in 5km loops so that I’m never further from the house than I can walk, should something go wrong with the bike, but I’m quite glad I didn’t have to push 22.75kg up a couple of steep hills to get home again.
A shame, though, as I was rather enjoying my sunlit evening ride after a day of mostly drizzle.
Trish,
Keep your tyres pumped up as hard as possible to avoid punctures caused by nipping when you run over pot holes. (Not that they have those in France) You could also try carrying an aerosol tyre repair that sprays goop in but I have never had much luck with that. It’s probably best if you practice taking your tyres off and on a few times though that can cause punctures in itself.
Cheers
Boyd
Thanks, Boyd. 🙂
We checked the pressures just the other day but perhaps the tyres were just not robust enough to cope with some razor-sharp loose stones that had appeared on the road up near the town of Gorron – it was shortly after riding over these that I got the flappy wet sound of a flat tyre in my ears. 🙂 I’ve been wimping out of practising tyre removal, but this is a timely reminder to bloody well get on with it….
Trish,
I should have also said don’t try to fix a puncture by the roadside. Just carry a couple of spare inner tubes in your handlebar bag and then you can be back on the road in 5 minutes. If you only have one spare inner tube you can guarantee that you will get two punctures.
Cheers
Boyd