I was planning on my first March ride today. I had gone with Joanne to a medical test she had this morning and by the time we got back to the house, the temperature was up to 56F and heading higher. I didn't think I wanted to get up into the twisties until there's been enough time for the sand and gravel and patches of snow to get off the mountain roads.
And since I'm weird enough to enjoy the plains, I figured a loop from Greeley to Fort Morgan, then north on CO-52, east on CO-14 to CO-71 until it turns into NE-71, then turn west in Kimball, NE, onto a remnant of the original Lincoln Highway (US-30) past the Oliver Reservoir State Recreational Area, through the slowly-dying little burg of Bushnell and then into Pine Bluffs, WY, before turning south past Carpenter, WY, and back to Hereford, CO. Then it would be back home through Briggsdale and Lucerne. All in all, a pleasant 247-mile ride on a nice day.
So I suited up, pushed the bike out of the garage and realized it wasn't rolling very well. About that time, my TPM system kicked in … flashing red! My rear tire had 6psi. Well, PHOOEY!! I didn't really feel like messing with plugging a tire, and I needed to home close to 5PM so I could go on call for Hospice. I bagged the whole ride.
I helped Joanne with a few chores around the house and then went back out into the garage and slapped my mini air compressor onto the bike and pumped It up, thinking I'd go ahead and get the bike onto the centerstand and start looking for the nail in the tire. When I got to 43psi and pulled the hose off, I could hear the leak. Then I could feel it -- it was the valve stem. I screwed the stem insert back in, and pumped the tire back up from the 30psi and it's still holding air. Easiest flat fix ever!
Tonight we were watching the Denver weather news and heard that trucks had been blowing off of I-80 in south-eastern Wyoming. 60-70mph gusts. I don't mind riding in wind, but that's probably outside my comfort zone by at least 15-20mph.
Warm weather may leave tomorrow, and I've got to work for the Hospice tomorrow and Friday till about 1PM, so I don't know if I'll get to ride this week.
BUT … next week will have another hour of daylight with the time change, so I'll get that first March ride in soon.
And since I'm weird enough to enjoy the plains, I figured a loop from Greeley to Fort Morgan, then north on CO-52, east on CO-14 to CO-71 until it turns into NE-71, then turn west in Kimball, NE, onto a remnant of the original Lincoln Highway (US-30) past the Oliver Reservoir State Recreational Area, through the slowly-dying little burg of Bushnell and then into Pine Bluffs, WY, before turning south past Carpenter, WY, and back to Hereford, CO. Then it would be back home through Briggsdale and Lucerne. All in all, a pleasant 247-mile ride on a nice day.
So I suited up, pushed the bike out of the garage and realized it wasn't rolling very well. About that time, my TPM system kicked in … flashing red! My rear tire had 6psi. Well, PHOOEY!! I didn't really feel like messing with plugging a tire, and I needed to home close to 5PM so I could go on call for Hospice. I bagged the whole ride.
I helped Joanne with a few chores around the house and then went back out into the garage and slapped my mini air compressor onto the bike and pumped It up, thinking I'd go ahead and get the bike onto the centerstand and start looking for the nail in the tire. When I got to 43psi and pulled the hose off, I could hear the leak. Then I could feel it -- it was the valve stem. I screwed the stem insert back in, and pumped the tire back up from the 30psi and it's still holding air. Easiest flat fix ever!
Tonight we were watching the Denver weather news and heard that trucks had been blowing off of I-80 in south-eastern Wyoming. 60-70mph gusts. I don't mind riding in wind, but that's probably outside my comfort zone by at least 15-20mph.
Warm weather may leave tomorrow, and I've got to work for the Hospice tomorrow and Friday till about 1PM, so I don't know if I'll get to ride this week.
BUT … next week will have another hour of daylight with the time change, so I'll get that first March ride in soon.
