Rescued !!!!

Evelyn, my knight in shining armor !!!

 So finally a hot day to ride in , I had been a little concerned that all my training has been going on in cool to cold weather and wanted to do a bit of ridding in the heat , well today I got the chance 30 degrees at 4.50 when I hit the road !!!

But I made a cardinal mistake , I should have known better ( I do know better !) , I put too much air in the tires . I always re-inflate my tires before a ride, I like ridding close to max but on days like today you just have to back off a smidge and I didn’t. I’m using “Continental Grand Prix 4-season V” tires that have a max inflation of 116 psi , and today I was very close to that .

So off I went enjoying the heat, I was a bit weary from work but as always after about 15 20 km I start to fell better and get in the swing of riding. Today was no different I was debating back and forth how long I would go when I got my second wind around the 20 km mark and instead of turning for home I turned west and 6 km later as I was climbing a long easy stretch of road on the 15th Sideroad BOOMMMMMM !!!!!! the back tire blew , and it wasn’t just the tube but the sidewall of the tire split also .

 Well I carry spare tubes , tube patches , tire patches and tape but all to no avail , as soon as I put a bit of pressure in the tire it would slip off the rim . And of course I was not carrying a spare tire ( which from now on I will do !!! )

So after all my repair attempts failed and with a long, long walk home in front of me I called Evelyn and asked if she could come and get me, she still had to finish work but said she’d be there as soon as she could , so I gave her directions and started to walk ( I was doing pretty good 4 to 5 km/h ) and about 5 km later she meet me on the side of 88 Hwy .

I got lucky as I wasn’t that far from home and apart from the flat the bike and I are fine , but I will pay more attention to air pressure and climate changes in the future ( and carry a spare tire from now on !!! )

                                                                       Here I am, bike loaded on to the truck , happy to be rescued !!!! This is the third time I’ve had to call on Evelyn to come and get me , the first was after a bad crash on a group ride with the club , six of us went down , one to hospital with a broken collar bone , me lots of road burn and a bike that didn’t want to go anymore. The second time was last year as I huddled under the Canal Road Bridge in one of the fiercest thunderstorms I’ve ever experienced that went on for ever with sideways rain and debris all over the roads.

On a positive note I was very pleased with the walking ability of my riding shoes , 5 km mostly on the gravel shoulder and they were quite comfortable to walk in.