Today was a mixed day. We were supposed to do 90k but ended up running up the total to 102k. We meandered off course for a bit.
We ended up riding on so rough gravely utility road along the river.
Th great difficulty came when my rear tire developed a slow leak. So for the last 30k we would pump the tire up full and then I would head off like a bat out of hell as fast as I could to eat up some kilometers. I could only get the army tank heavy bike up to 37 kph. And that took Herculean effort and a collective group drafting to accomplish that. Then stop pump it up again and ride like hell to try to get in without having to change the tube again. I was getting about 6-8 kilometers per pumping. It was quite infuriating...
I coasted into the hotel on a flat and called the tour company. They sent out a completely different bicycle rather than fixing the tire. Whatever works because I was fed up with the trouble with that bike.
We had a great dinner at a restaurant that was suggested by the hotel owner and then I fell into bed exhausted.
I am glad you are getting a new bike. Check you email re tire issue
ReplyDeleteDid you want to run up the total mileage today? (haha!)
ReplyDeleteOh Mike.......it sounds infuriating; this flat tire debacle. Every day since you started there has been a series of flats. I can completely appreciate your sentiments of being 'infuriated.' I hope the new bike has kevlar reinforced tires.
Question........are you on a self guided tour? And if so, did you and your compadres come up with this tour on your own or are you following a route someone previously did?
Hope the day is better tomorrow for biking.
Nite Nite
Pam
I had a bit of trouble with the tire. It was a good brand of tire but there was something in it that we could not find. The new bike cured that!
DeleteIt is a self guided tour. We get maps and directions and they deliver the luggage from town to town and to the hotel.