Are you holding the line?
I got back in the saddle recently. For those of you that hate road cyclists - I do apologize - and can assure you we're doing our best to do two things:
I am 100% a believer in the sport and in the mode of transportation. On the ride that I'm describing below - I burned 2,000 calories.
I've learned a lot on the bicycle - maybe it's because you have time to think - maybe it's because you are surrounded by a lot of very successful people - or maybe it's because you're on your own.
There isn't a lot of hiding on the bike - you can either keep up or get dropped by the group - and you can either fix a problem that occurs 30 miles from home or not.
Many thanks to my wife for the not scenarios!
But recently I had a tire issue while on a group ride and unbeknownst to me - the stem on a road bike tube has two pieces and if the main piece unscrews - your tire deflates and deflates quickly.
It can be dangerous at speed but luckily for me we were just getting moving from a stop when two things occurred: I felt my tire getting low and I could hear a feint whistle.
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We pulled over (the entire group that is) and you feel terrible in that scenario - we're out there to exercise not do bike maintenance.
And my tire still looked full - everyone said to me are you sure it's going flat and in all honesty - surrounded by a bunch of people with a lot more experience - I wasn't sure.
But I knew something wasn't right so I held to that and a couple of more experienced riders looked it over and figured out that this valve had come loose. Not all the way off - all the way off would have meant immediate flat - but that's the process that this stem was in - it screws on - it was loose - and it was getting ready to come all the way off which would have meant two things - I'd have lost the stem and my tired would have gone from full to flat in seconds - possibly at 26mph - with a car beside me.
Not ideal.
I'd be writing this today covered in road rash or worse but I'm not because I stuck to my belief that there was an issue - explored the situation - and probably saved myself some serious issues.
I talk to people every day who experience these types of situations at work or at home or anywhere else. If you're out there in a situation like this where you know something is wrong - hold your line.
Good luck to everyone out there.
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