I’m Fixing A Hole (Part 9: There’s No Place Like Home)

I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go
—Lennon/McCartney

Once you’re back home you can patch the punctured inner tube. You’ll be less pressured and can do it in an unrushed, orderly fashion, which will assist in you doing it correctly and avoid having to repatch the tube.

Extreme example of exploded tube–can’t be patched!

Is The Tube Salvageable?
Not all tubes can be patched and not all tubes are worth patching. If the puncture is large i.e. a long gash or the tire deflated due to an explosive failure, it’s not worth patching if it’s even patchable at all. What can cause your tire to explode? Overinflating your tire is one way: the pressure is just too great for the tire and it can’t hold the tube in place. This can happen due to overpumping. A common way this happens is inflating your tire at a gas station air pump. These pumps put out very high pressure and your tire is at the proper inflation level very quickly, more quickly than you realize. It’s generally very hard to overinflate your tire with a regular a frame pump. But some floor pumps today can pump up to over 160 psi, which is quite high. Absolutely respect the tire pressure range recommended for your tire. Another way you can explode your tire is if the inner tube wasn’t entirely inside the tire, i.e. part was trapped under the bead. A tire casing failure can also happen leading to an explosive release. This can happen if your tire is very old, you’ve worn the rubber down to the casing, or you’ve damaged the casing. Sometimes the tire sidewalls get damaged by abrasion or by riding your tires underinflated. This causes the sidewalls to flex excessively and fray. An exploded inner tube results in a long tear or hole that cannot be patched.

Another inner tube that cannot be patched is if the tube failed at the valve. It’s not possible to put on a patch when it’s too close to the valve hole.

Some tubes are probably not worth patching. If your tube already has a lot of patches on it, you’ll want to consider if it’s time to toss it and just put a new tube in your saddle bag. That said, tubes can take as many patches as there is space. Patches adhere best when they are attached just to the tube. If the new puncture is close to an old patch such that you’d have to put the new patch on top of an old patch, these patches often don’t adhere as well as directly on the tube. You can try it but the patch may eventually fail.

Assuming you do successfully patch the tube, I recommend that you reinstall it in the tire and take the previous spare tube out to use as your spare again. This is so that your spare is always a “clean” tube with no punctures in it.

Patching an Inner Tube.
Although you located the hole in your tube while on the road, you’ll probably need to do it again once you’re at home. The first time was so you could locate the hole in the tire and remove the piece of glass or thorn before installing your spare. This time you need to find the hole in the tube again in order to patch it.

Gently pump up your tube and then listen for a hiss or feel the tube for any leaking air exactly as you did while on the road. Once you’ve located the hole again, use a Sharpie or ink pen to mark the pinhole this time. If you can’t feel or hear the leak, then the next step is to fill a wash basin with water, inflate the tube to a few pounds of pressure, close the valve tightly, and then submerge the tube in the basin to look for bubbles from the leaking air. Starting at the valve submerge just a section and look for bubbles. Note that bubbles of air sometimes are attached to the tube simply from dipping the tube under water. These are not from a leak. Of course you won’t know if that’s the case. So if you see bubbles on the tube, it could be from that or a very slow leak. So brush the bubbles away and see if new bubble form. If they do, then you have a leak. Other times it’s quite obvious where the leak is because bubbles will be rapidly expelled. Now note where the bubbles are coming from, remove the tube from the water, wipe it dry, and mark with spot with a Sharpie.

Another possibility, which should be obvious when you’re inspecting the tube, is that you have incurred a ‘snake bite’ puncture. This happens when you hit something with a sharp edge such as a pothole or a rock. The tire completely compresses at the rim with such force that it cuts through the tube in two places, one directly under the other on the tube. This will look like two small cuts very close together. If you’re lucky, the two punctures are very close together and you’ll be able to cover them both with one regular patch. If they’re further apart, you may need to use two patches. Some patch kits includ oval as well as circular patches. The former are for longer cuts or for snake bite punctures. Repairing snake bite punctures calls for the same procedure with the added precaution of covering the larger area completely with glue.

But don’t stop now. You want to inspect the entire circumference of the tube because there may be more than one puncture. So keep pushing the tube under water section by section repeating this procedure. If you find another puncture, mark it. Then dry off the tube.

A failed patch.
Occasionally an old patch will fail. This is rather common with glueless patches but it also happens with regular patches. The patch didn’t completely vulcanize to the inner tube and eventually it can fail. Usually this is due to putting the patch on before the glue has set enough, waiting too long for the glue to set before applying the patch, the site not being adequately or completely covered with glue, or insufficient pressure being applied to the patch to get it to adhere. It may work temporarily but a hasty or inadequate patch job may eventually fail. If you find the leak is coming from under an old patch, don’t try to put a patch over the patch! Vulcanizing glue doesn’t do a very good job on a patch and the second patch will very likely fail. Instead remove the old patch and then repatch the site. This may be difficult but it’s doable; you’ll have to completely remove any residue of the old patch and the glue for this to work. Follow the same instructions below after you’ve cleaned the site completely.

Patching a tube.
You’ll now need to follow the instructions for patching the tube, which are almost always the same for butyl or latex:

If there is any dirt, liquid, or oil on the area around the puncture, you’ll want to clean it all off.
Use the included sandpaper to roughen up the area around the hole for the entire area the patch will cover. You don’t have to rub too hard. But you do want to have ‘fresh’ rubber. If it’s a latex tube, you’ll want to go easy on it because they are highly elastic. Some patch kits don’t include sandpaper but instead a small metal rasp to roughen up the inner tube surface.
Use the tube of glue; if it’s not open yet, you’ll want to puncture the sealed opening with the point in the cap. Then apply a layer of glue to the area around the puncture. Be sure to cover an area larger than the patch. It doesn’t need to be a lot of glue—just smear it with the mouth of the tube as you apply the glue; if you put down too much it will mean you have to wait longer to let it dry. Do not blow on the glue to attempt to get it to dry ‘faster’—it won’t and the moisture from your breath hinders the bond.
Now wait for the glue to dry until it just stops being tacky. At this point you’ll apply the patch. If you wait too long and let the glue overdry the patch may not adhere well, so don’t go away and then come back.
Patches have a covering over the sticky side that you’ll have to peel off before you apply the patch. Rema patches have metal foil. Rema Tip Top patches also have a thin, peelable covering on the top of the patch. If you’re using Rema patches, you can leave that peel on the patch; just remove the foil backing. When you’re ready to apply the patch, peel off the backing and put it over the puncture with the puncture in the center of the patch. If the patch is on any part of the tube that didn’t have any glue applied, it won’t stick there and acts as a weak point. After the tube is reinflated that part of the patch may start to pull away from the tube and may lead to a ‘tunnel’ forming from the edge of the patch to the puncture causing a leak. If you do have a dry spot, you can try to quickly apply just a tiny bit of glue there and pressing the patch down firmly.
Now press down very firmly over the entire surface of the patch using the blunt end of a tire lever or a spoon to press down and roll over the entire patch taking particular attention to the edges of the patch. Take your time. Check that the entire edge of the patch is sealed to the inner tube surface. You might be tempted to try to inflate the tube to see if the patch is leaking. Don’t! Just visually inspect it. The purpose of the glue is to vulcanize the patch with the butyl or latex rubber; essentially the patch is becoming part of the tube rather than being adhesively attached. If the vulcanization is not finished, then inflating the tube may allow the patch to tear apart from the tube.
There is one thing to be cautious about: tubes intended for smaller tires such as 20-, 23-, and sometimes 25-mm tires are slightly harder to patch than for larger tires. When you’re patching a tube, ideally you want the area being patched to be completely flat when you press down on the patch. For bigger tubes this is not a problem because the area to be flattened is bigger than the patch. But tubes for smaller diameter tires, when you press them flat on a table, are actually not as wide as the patch. So the patch is going to curl around the tube. When you apply the patch and press on it, you will have to roll the tube slightly to press on the two edges that curl under the tube. Do this carefully yet forcefully. That curling makes it harder for the patch to attach to the tube. Fortunately most patches have a feathered edge so they are thinner at the edge of the patch than in the middle. This makes it easier for the patch to curl around and to vulcanize with the tube.
If you are using a larger oblong patch to cover a bigger tear or a snake bite puncture, it is almost impossible to apply the patch to a small diameter tube since these patches are generally thicker and won’t curl as easily. If you can, apply the patch longitudinally to the tube. If you can’t because of the dimensions or location of the puncture(s). you may find it hard to get the patch to adhere and seal adequately.
If you are going to install the tube back into your tire, you can start doing that now. If you are using Rema patches, you can leave the clear backing on the top of the patch in place; you don’t have to remove it. If you do remove it, I recommend that you then dust the area with talc ie. ‘baby powder’. This is because any exposed glue can actually start sticking to the inside of the tire. The backing helps prevent that. If the glue does stick to the tire, it’s not a problem. But it does prevent the tube from moving easily inside the tire and you may find that when you have to remove the tube the next time you have a flat, you’ll have to peel the tube out of the tire.
You can store the repaired inner tube as your spare. But I recommend that you reinstall the patched tube and remove your original spare so that it remains pristine. (Obviously if your spare was patched before, there’s no reason to do this.)

It is possible that your patching will fail. Perhaps you didn’t cover the whole area with glue, you didn’t press the patch with enough force (it doesn’t require much though) or over the entire surface of the patch, or the glue was too old. If the surface of the tube was contaminated, it’s also possible for the vulcanization to fail. So it’s important to keep it clean and dry before you attach the patch and glue.

Finally your tire may still leak because your tube actually had TWO holes and you only patched one. If you’ve ridden through a patch of glass or thorns you may have found one puncture but didn’t inspect further for another hole when you got home. So don’t skip that step above. This can also happen if you incurred a snake bite puncture but didn’t notice that and covered only one of the two punctures.

What if my patch fails?
Sometimes despite your best efforts your patching fails. If you stick the tube into a basin of water, you probably will see a leak coming out from under the patch due to insufficient glue, waiting too long to apply the patch, not waiting long enough before applying the patch, or not pressing firmly enough. This is often due to rushing a repair. It’s important to be orderly and patient in patching—don’t rush it! If you want, you can attempt to repair the puncture again using the same procedure. Most patches will tear off easily (but some don’t!) and you can start over again. Just make sure to remove as much of the glue and tidbits of the edge of the patch from the tube before your second attempt. Note that sometimes the patching seems to have been successful. But the tire is flat the next day. If it’s not due to another leak you didn’t discover, it’s usually because it took time for the air pressure to force out and tunnel to the edge of the patch. The remedy is the same: make sure you have the area completely covered in glue and to wait the appropriate time before applying the patch and pressing firmly and completely.

Why patch?
You don’t have to patch a punctured tube. There are butyl tubes that are quite inexpensive and you may find it less hassle just to toss the punctured tube and get a virgin tube for your repair kit. This is especially true if you buy tubes in bulk quantities to save money. If you prefer using extralight butyl tubes or latex tubes, you may find it too expensive an option to toss them right away.

About patch kits.
Patch kits include a small tube of glue and several patches usually in two sizes, circular and oblong. These kits often sit in your saddlebag, get jostled around, and they will age. Although the glue is inside a sealed metal tube, it still can slowly lose solvent and become useless if left alone long enough. You can check the tubes occasionally to see if they are dried out. If you press on an unopened tube and it collapses, it’s probably lost solvent and is suspect. Get a replacement tube of glue for your patch kit. Why are you concerned about this? Because sometimes circumstance will force you to attempt a patching while you’re out riding such as when you have multiple punctures and don’t have enough spare tubes with you. Of course the first option if you’re riding with friends is to cadge a spare tube from someone else. But that’s not always possible. Another is to flag down a passing cyclist and ask for their spare tube. But unless they are Good Samaritan types they are not going to give up their good tube to you.

Note that once you puncture and open a glue tube it will now dry out faster as the solvent can more easily escape. Check a previously opened glue tube more often to see if it has dried out. If it has, you can buy a separate tube without having to spring for an entire patch kit.

Glueless patches.
You can also purchase patches that don’t need glue, so-called ‘glueless patches’. These are patches that have a special adhesive on the patch and you can apply them directly to the tube without using any vulcanizing glue. These are usually sold with the caveat that the repair is temporary only and not permanent. Because you’re not using vulcanization to attach the patch, this glue bond is not as strong and often will eventually fail. But these patches are useful and quicker to apply so much so that you can effect a quick repair albeit temporary while still riding. The basic idea is the same: use the small piece of sandpaper to roughen the area around the puncture, remove the backing from the patch and apply, then press firmly.

If you’ve cleaned the tube surface well and pressed firmly on the patch, these glueless patches may last indefinitely. But a good percentage of the time they fail within a relatively short period, a few days or weeks. This is because the adhesive isn’t strong enough to withstand the pressue in the tube and air eventually tunnels out to the edge of the patch and escapes. If you need to replace a glueless patch, they are fairly easy to tear off. Then replace it with a regular patch.

A note about patching latex tubes and TPU tubes.
Latex tubes are patched exactly the same way as butyl tubes. However there is one characteristic of latex tubes that makes this slightly more difficult than with butyl tubes. Latex rubber is stretchier than butyl rubber. This resilience provides the unparalleled comfort that latex tubes are known for. This stretchiness makes inflating a latex tube outside of a tire difficult sometimes. No tube has completely uniform thickness and with latex this means that areas of the tube that are thinner or more flexible will expand and balloon before the rest of the tube. You will end up with one section looking like a sausage and the rest of the tube barely having any pressure. This may happen when you are inflating a latex tube to look for the puncture site making it difficult since the site could be anywhere on the tire and the pressure may not be enough to make the leak obvious. If you can’t find the puncture site, you may have to submerge the tube in a basin of water to look for bubbles.

Ordinary patch kits will not work with TPU tubes because TPU is not a kind of rubber. Brands of TPU tubes make their own patch solutions and they may not be compatible with other TPU tubes. For example, Tubolito and Rene Herse patch kits are different. You will have to refer to the company that makes your TPU tubes for advice on patching.

Removing your spare from a tubeless tire.
If you installed a spare tube in a tubeless tire while on the road, you’ll find that it’s a mess when you get home because of the sealant now coating everything. If you flatted your tubeless tire because all the sealant dried up and there wasn’t any to seal a puncture, then your spare luckily is not going to be a mess. But if there is still sealant in the tire, your spare is now covered with it. Most sealants are water soluble and will wash off. You can also let it sit on the workbench until dry and then you can peel the dried sealant off later on and then pack up your spare again.

I’m Fixing A Hole (Part 8: Reinstalling the Wheel)

I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go
—Lennon/McCartney

Reinstalling your wheel.
For a front wheel with rim brakes your quick release should be loosened enough to go over the lawyer tabs. It’s best to stand the bike upright when you go to insert the wheel. Stand on the left side of the bike and hold the front of the bike up; with your other hand put the wheel into the dropouts and let the bike settle on the wheel in order to ensure that the wheel is completely seated in the dropout. Then screw in the end nut so that when you tighten the quick release it grabs firmly onto the dropouts. (The bike still be balanced on the wheel axle so you can use both hands to screw in the end nut.) Remember: a quick release is not a wingnut so screwing in the end nut is not sufficient. You have to screw it in enough so that you can move the lever 180 degrees to cam onto the dropouts tightly. And the lever should not stick out but be parallel to the bike. When you removed the wheel you probably had to open the brake calipers to get the wheel out, so push the button or turn the lever that moves the calipers back into place. If you forget to do this, your brake will not function correctly. Then spin the wheel to make sure that it’s not rubbing the brake pads or wobbling. It may be that you don’t have the wheel inserted into the dropouts fully and the wheel will either appear to wobble or it might hit the brake pads. If so, open the quick release and tighten it again while the bike is standing up so that gravity can force the wheel fully into place.

For a front wheel with a thru axle insert the wheel into the dropouts making sure you insert the disc rotor carefully into the brake rotor slot. If you do this carelessly, you can bend your rotor. Then insert the thru axle and follow whatever procedure your brand requires. Most just require screwing the axle in until it’s tight. But some have proprietary levers that latch in place. You do not want a loose thru axle!

For a rear wheel with a rim brake the procedure is the same as a front wheel except there are no lawyer tabs to deal with. This is a little trickier than a front wheel because you have to stand the bike up while inserting the wheel and dealing with the rear derailleur. Hold the bike up with one hand and put the rear wheel under the rear triangle. Now you will have to pull the rear derailleur body back a bit to get the chain around the cassette. Also make sure you get the chain on the correct cassette cog. The wheel should go into the dropouts easily. If not it can be due to the chain not properly wrapping around the cassette (e.g. it’s on wrong cog), the chain being trapped between the smallest cog and the dropout, or the ends of the quick release interfering with one of the dropouts. Remove the wheel and try again if necessary. You may have to loosen the quick release nut some more, push it one way or the other, or just remove it entirely in extreme cases to get the axle back in the dropouts. Make sure your brake calipers are set correctly if you opened them when removing the wheel.

For a rear wheel with a thru axle, insert the wheel into the dropouts as with a rim brake wheel above but also making sure the disc rotor goes into the brake rotor slot. Then insert the thru axle and tighten per your brand’s instructions.

For any wheel the final steps are to spin the wheel to make sure the brakes aren’t rubbing and in the case of the rear wheel to make sure your shifting is alright.

When your chain falls off the chainring.
Anytime you remove a rear wheel the chain is no longer under tension and can easily fall off the front chainring. This can happen if the crank turns backwards and unships the chain. Of course the obvious prevention is to be careful not to let the cranks turn backwards. But if the chain does fall off, simply place it back on the correct chainring. In order to keep your hands clean you can use a tire iron to grab a chain link with the spoke hook end and pull it onto the chainring. Then run the crank to spin the rear wheel to ensure the chain is in place on the chainring as well as on the cassette in back. Or, you can carry latex gloves to keep your hands clean while you put the chain back on. Gloves are generally a good idea for any on-road repair to keep your hands from getting grimy

Ready to ride.
At this point you’re ready to continue your ride. But you should start a bit slowly in order to check that everything is fine, specifically that the drivetrain has been put back together correctly (if you removed the rear wheel) and that the brakes aren’t rubbing the rim or disc rotor. This is also when you’ll check for a hop in the wheel if you weren’t able to seat all of the tire bead fully onto the bead shelf. You also want to be attentive to whether the tire starts to feel “odd”: if a part of the tube is still stuck under the bead, pressure may force air out from under the bead and it will move the tire over. Tires don’t always explode immediately. Sometimes it takes some time for the air to be forced out from under the bead at which point it will rapidly get worse and explode. So as you start riding you’ll want to be attentive for that possibly taking place. If you do feel this happening, then stop and quickly deflate the tire. You’ll have to go back to trying to get the tube back into the tire.

March 17–Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Gene Howard, last finisher at the first Bike-A-Thon 1985

While today is a Monday, in 1984 and 2007 it fell on a Saturday and both dates had club rides that we happen to have pictures of.

Lunch at Lake Chabot: Tom, Michael, Dave, Gene looking dour, John St. Denis

In 1984 John St. Denis led a club ride to Lake Chabot for a picnic lunch. Accompanying him were Dave Gilchrist, Tom Crites, Michael John, and Gene Howard—all early members of the Different Spokes. Michael John served as club president and also as newsletter editor for the early ChainLetter. He also created many of the early club trips such as the Russian River/Guerneville Weekend and the Apple Blossom, was instrumental in organizing the first AIDS Bike-A-Thon, and led a slew of self-contained bicycle trips around the US. (We will soon hear more from Michael!) Tom Crites’s home in the Castro was the location of the early club garage sales. When the club was starting up, money had to come from somewhere and just like today membership fees weren’t enough. Dave Gilchrist was also in the early cohort of bicycle tourists in the classic sense: load up your panniers and go for a trip. If you attended the 40th Anniversary Bash at il Casaro restaurant in 2022, you had a rare chance to meet Dave; being a sailor he’s often away on his boats. Gene Howard, the “old dude” with the fetching beret was a retired school teacher, and was the oldest participant at age 64 and the last person to arrive at Molly Brown’s in Guerneville for the 1985 AIDS Bike-A-Thon. That’s a picture of him above at the BAT ceremony after the ride. A really sweet guy, unfortunately he died in a house fire in 1998. I have no idea what happened to John St. Denis.

1984 Club Garage Sale at Tom Crites’s garage

In 2004 Will Bir was deep into long distance cycling and he led a club trip to do the Del Puerto Canyon loop. Will probably got the idea from doing the Del Puerto Canyon century, which no longer is offered. It starts in Patterson and goes up Del Puerto Canyon Road—a beautiful, isolated country road—to Mines Road, down to Livermore and then back to Patterson.

Surprisingly three other members joined him for this very long ride—Jeremy Jacobs, Mark Hotsenpiller, and Jerome Thomere. Well, actually Jerome isn’t a surprise since he was often doing centuries and doubles with Will back then. Those were the days when riding centuries was still popular in the club. March was a good time to ride Del Puerto Canyon because it can be very hot in summer whereas in spring it’s not just cooler but also a lot greener and prettier. I’m not sure what happened to Mark and Jeremy. Jeremy did a lot of club rides for a few years and then vanished; ditto for Mark.

If you’re a Different Spokes member, you can see more pictures of the 2007 ride in the club photo albums on the website.

I’m Fixing A Hole (Part 7: Pump it up)

I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go
—Lennon/McCartney

Inflating your tire while on the road.
You should be carrying some kind of inflation tool with you along with your spare tube, mini tool, etc. This is true even if you are using tubeless tires. Although tubeless tires reduce the number of roadside flats, that number isn’t zero. With tubeless tires you may not get a completely flat tire yet the pressure is very low by the time the puncture has sealed and you may want to pump more air into it. If you had to use a tire plug to seal a leak, then you definitely have a flat tubeless tire and will need to inflate it. If you have tubed tires, then replacing the flat tube with a spare but having no means to pump it up leaves you in exactly the same situation: a flat tire (but this one has no hole in it!)

The most common inflation tool is a portable hand pump. But there other tools: CO2 injectors, portable battery powered pumps, foot operated pumps, or gas station air hoses. You should be familiar with whatever inflation tool you carry. Even hand pumps have brand-specific idiosyncrasies in how to use them properly. So read any instructions you get with your pump.

Hand pumps. Hand pumps come in a huge variety of sizes. Back in the day the most common kind for “ten speed” bicycles was a “frame” pump. It was called that because the pump was sized to fit in the main triangle of your bike, either parallel to the seat tube or the top tube. (Some cyclists put them parallel to a seat stay. These pumps either attached to the frame between pegs or the pump had a spring in the handle that allowed it to fit directly in the main triangle without any pegs. Hand pumps either had a head that you attached directly to a tire valve or it had a short hose from the pump to the valve. One advantage of frame pumps is that their longer size allowed you to pump more air into the tire with fewer strokes.

Now we have hand pumps that run anywhere from about six inches in length up to a frame size and everything in between. The general rule is that the smaller the pump, the more strokes you’ll be doing to inflate your tire. Some small pumps can extend open so that its barrel becomes longer and can inject more air with each stroke yet they collapse down to a shorter length for portabililty. Of course the smaller the pump, the lighter it is and depending on how you plan to stow it, it could be really helpful to have a small pump. If you want it to fit in your jersey pocket, it needs to be short versus fitting it on your bike where length is less critical.

The quality, longevity, and convenience of a pump is highly idiosyncratic. I’ve been through several mini pumps that were inadequate either because they were difficult to use or hold, they had terrible heads, or they couldn’t get a tire up to the pressure I wanted. Some folks don’t mind having to pump 250+ short strokes to inflate a tire whereas others prefer less than a hundred long strokes with a frame pump. Keep in mind there is a time factor: it will take you quite some time to pump 250 strokes; 80 or so is a lot quicker. Very generally speaking I’ve found mini pumps from Silca, Lezyne, Blackburn, and Topeak to be alright.

Hand pumps also vary by the type of tire you use. Mountain bike tires have much greater volume and are inflated to much lower pressure, generally less than 35 PSI; road tires run anywhere from about 50 to 120 PSI; gravel tires are in between. The higher a pressure you need to attain, the harder it is to inject air; the more air you need to inject, the more strokes you’ll need to produce.

If you have a big tire to fill, a small pump will require a lot more strokes to reach adequate pressure. So pumps intended for mountain bike tires tend to have bigger air chambers to push more air (i.e. usually the pump barrel is deliberately wider.) Pumps for road tires tend to have narrower chambers. But of course this is all relative because it’s the volume of air you are pushing in one stroke that affects effort. So having a wider barrel but a shorter length (or even just pumping half the length of the barrel) accomplishes the same thing as having a narrower barrel but a longer length. Pumps for road bikes are designed to be able to pump to higher pressure whereas mountain bike pumps generally can’t.

Foot pump. Foot pumps have been around for a long time. Instead of using your arms you use your leg to work a pump. Since your leg muscles are larger (and trained by cycling) foot pumps can be less tiring to use. The problem is that they have heretofore been designed to be used at home for automobile/motorcycle tires. Now there is a portable foot pump for bicycles, the Stompump. I haven’t used it so I can’t comment on how effective it is. It’s more expensive than a good frame pump but not excessively so, about $60.

CO2 injectors. I covered CO2 cartridges in Part 1. Here are some additional remarks. The main advantage of CO2 injectors over pumps is effort: you do not have to pump. If you have limited upper body strength or range of motion, then CO2 may be better for you. An injector and two CO2 cartridges is likely lighter and smaller, more packable than a pump. the main disadvantage is that after you use your cartridges you have no way to pump up your tire. If you prefer the convenience of CO2 yet do not want to be stranded, you can pack two or more cartridges and even a small pump too. You’ll be able to pump your tire up easily with CO2 but also have a pump in case you want or need to add more air or you run out of cartridges.

Although CO2 is not harmful to butyl or latex rubber it is more permeable through rubber than air is. So your tire will deflate more rapidly. If you use CO2 and wait overnight the tire is going to be pretty deflated the next day. You may think that the tire has a flat or an old patch on your tube has gone bad. But it could just be that the CO2 has leaked out. Just deflate your tire when you get home and inflate it with regular air. If you used CO2 to inflate a tubeless tire that had a leak, CO2 can damage sealant. So when you arrive home you should completely deflate your tire to remove the CO2. When you release the CO2 into your tire the gas is very cold. That rapid chilling alone can damage some sealants so you should inspect your tire at home to see if you need to remove and replace the sealant.

CO2 and TPU tubes are another matter. According to Rene Herse Cycles, who produce and sell their own TPU tubes, the rapid chilling caused by compressed CO2 makes the TPU more brittle and the rapid increase in pressure can then “break” the tube. They don’t say anything about using an injector with a regulator, which allows you to release the gas into your tube more slowly, whether it might be safer. They just don’t recommend using their TPU tubes with CO2. Whether this also applies to other brands of TPU inner tubes isn’t clear.

Keep in mind that a CO2 cartridge is metal and it also will get very cold when you release the gas. Some injectors cover the cartridges but many do not.

Electric Pumps. The new kid on the block is the battery powered, portable electric pump. These are quite compact and light due to the lithium battery. Depending on size they are good for a couple of tubes or more before you need to recharge the battery. They usually have a built-in gauge; you set the target pressure, turn it on, and it runs until it reaches its goal. Very convenient. They can be lighter than a mini pump too. The motor is small so it takes some time to reach higher pressures. But your arms aren’t tired! They’re now coming out of China in scads so buyer beware. They cost about $100. Popular brands include Fumpa and Cycplus.

Gas Station Air Hoses. If you want to pump up your tire, a gas station with an air hose is very tempting. Although the number of gas stations is shrinking, there are still a lot of gas stations around. A few caveats. First they all have heads that fit only Schrader valves so they will not work with Presta tubes unless you happen to be carrying a Presta-to-Schrader adaptor in your saddlepack. Second they send out a lot air quickly because they are intended for car tires, which have a much greater volume than bicycle tires. If you are not careful you can explode your tire. Third, the gauges on these air hoses are of unknown reliability. It may say your pressure is 50 PSI but it actually might be something else. So relying on the gauge to measure how much air you’ve put in is sketchy.

Public bike repair stations. Self-service bicycle repair stands are becoming more common, They are usually installed along well used bike trails and frequented spots such as at parks or trailheads. They include a few common tools such as Allen wrenches, a stand for holding your bike, and a built-in track pump. I’ve used these a couple of times and they can be quite convenient. Although well-built and robust the condition of the pump varies. On some the gauge may either be broken or so scratched you can’t read the numerals. But they are another source of on-the-road air.

Track Pumps. If you already own a pump, this is probably what you have. It’s not designed to be carried on the bike but used at home or in a shop. But this is what you’ll see if you take your bike to a shop; there are usually track pumps on the floor for customer use. Bicycle shops almost always have air compressors in the repair area. This is just an electric powered motor that compresses room air into a cylinder for use in the shop where they are always needing compressed air for inflating tires, blowing parts, and cleaning. You won’t be allowed to use it but the employees might use it to inflate your tire if there aren’t any free track pumps.

Redwood Road Retread

Redwood Road reopened in mid-February after more than two years of closure. We went there to check it out.

Redwood Road between Moraga and Castro Valley is like a little brother to Big Sur Highway One: it keeps imitating its bigger brother by also repeatedly collapsing whenever the rain gets heavy. It seems like it was a lifetime ago but it was only 2017 when we had a magnificently wet winter and like clockwork Highway One and Redwood Road both collapsed. It took the county a solid year to get Redwood rebuilt, one long year staring at the K-barriers below the Marciel entrance to Chabot Park.(Actually, I didn’t stare at the road closure at all because I just diverted to the Brandon Trail through Chabot Park, which also went down to the (then) Willows golf course bypassing the closure. Brandon was/is awesome, a jeep road converted into a trail that mountain bikers use as a highway to get into Chabot. That was fun while it lasted and when Redwood Road reopened I stopped using Brandon.)

Fast forward five years to January 1, 2023: torrential rains batter the Bay Area so much so that our annual Resolution Ride couldn’t take place when Mt. Diablo closed. Instead Roger and I decided to do Redwood-Norris and discovered that a huge chunk of Redwood Road had slid into the creek. We tippytoed with our bikes along the edge of the former road, now crater, safely to the other side—admittedly a stupid move—in order to continue our ride. But we knew then that given the extent of the missing road—it was completely gone for about thirty feet—this was going to be a longer closure. And it was: Redwood wasn’t reopened until this mid-February after more than twenty-five and a half months.

Friday Roger and I rode the Three Bears the ‘hard’ way (i.e. Papa Bear first) and to make it even more interesting I did the whole ride using nothing lower than a 39×23 gear. And sat grinding the whole way. Saturday I did a metric century. Sunday I was going to take the day off but Roger wanted to ride Redwood now that it’s open. The day was sunny, so what the hey, we wouldn’t be going that fast (or at least I wouldn’t!) and we hadn’t been to Redwood since New Years 2023. The best laid plans of mice and men…

Redwood is a road beloved by East Bay cyclists. It’s surrounded by open space, either regional park land or EBMUD territory—no houses, no businesses, just trees, wildland, and…lots of sports cars and motos!

About twenty years ago Mens Journal magazine published a squib touting Redwood Road as a great place to race your muscle car. Like, WTF? I was so incensed I wrote them a letter decrying their encouragement of racing on a constantly curving public road with a ton of blind corners. Things haven’t changed since and the word had apparently also gotten out to the motos and rice rocketeers that Redwood was open because despite the relative calm, we witnessed a slew of sports cars and mototastic Speed Racers careening down the road. Some love it so much they race to one end and turn around and race back and forth —we were seeing the same cars and motos over and over.

All was not lost because there were plenty of cyclists as well. So the car crowd clearly were aware they were sharing the road with slower fare and other than the screeching of rubber and roar of motors sending our adrenaline up we were otherwise unharmed.

Maybe you recall that before the Pandemic hit there were a spate of bikejackings along Skyline Blvd. in the Oakland hills. Well, long before that there was a bikejacking on Redwood Road. A cyclist was stopped by dudes with guns. They took his bike and his phone. He ended up having to walk to the Redwood Canyon fire station for help. Ever since then I’ve been very wary about cycling on Redwood alone. There’s nothing like living next to Oakland to make cycling exciting.

Two years may not seem like a long time but in the meantime I had forgotten the contour of Redwood. Considering how often we rode it I was taken aback at how much climbing it has. Maybe I’m just older (“No! Really??”) and everything seems like it has more climbing. Maybe it was because my legs were wasted after two hard days. Peaceful it was but I had tunnel vision trying to stay on Roger’s wheel. So I can’t say I noticed how beautiful it all was. Roger wasn’t exactly having a field day either since he had only recently restarted riding. But he didn’t seem slowed down by the climbs.

Eventually we passed the Marciel entrance to Anthony Chabot and the long descent to the Willows began. For many this is ‘dessert’. But for me this is a terrifying downhill. Why? Because the sightlines are good, the road is wide(r), and the pavement is decent. (Although it has noticeably degenerated since 2018 when it reopened.) For some that’s an invitation to let it all hang out and go to hell in blazes. But for me it’s like a potential disaster waiting to happen. So instead I meekly creep down the hill trying not to visualize too strongly all the possible mishaps that might—nay, shall!—occur. I never was a terror going downhill and now I’m definitely in the ‘live to fight another day’ cohort. Except I never fight another day, I just live.

We approached a section of brand new pavement; but it wasn’t the location of the total collapse. The County delayed reopening Redwood when it realized that there were two sections of the road above the collapse that also needed to be repaired; this must have been one of them. Whatever the problem it wasn’t as severe as the collapse but it apparently commanded all new asphalt.

Further down on a righthand curve we saw the repair: the whole curve had to be redone, i.e. tons of rock and earth had to be dumped to rebuild the earth beneath the road. There is probably a shit ton of pilings under there too. We were rather surprised to see this because when we crossed Redwood in 2023 it looked like there was no way you could rebuild a base since it was probably ten vertical meters of missing earth. We thought for sure they would cut into the curve to create a new road to go around the crater. Maybe that would have involved moving even more earth and a new retaining wall. Whatever the rationale someone decided to rebuild the base and boy, it’s a doozy: there is now a huge retaining wall to keep the roadway upright now. At least until the next big storm. The road collapse happened where a rivulet flows down from the left into a tributary of San Leandro Creek. Perhaps the New Year’s Day storms overwhelmed the culvert (or the culvert hadn’t been maintained, a not uncommon problem) causing the water to erode the road base. It sure looks durable.

At the bottom we stopped at the Willows to rest and take in the sunshine. We parked our butts on the benches in front of the busy driving range and watched the duffers ‘practice’ their shanks and slices. At least that’s what it looked like to me. We weren’t in the mood to get a meal at the restaurant—we’ll save that for a weekday when it’s quieter—so we headed back to Moraga.

No need to ask: of course we were wasted! It was one long slog up all those climbs. The enjoyment of the reopened road on a beautiful spring day was lost on me as I concentrated on willing my legs to spin in feeble circles.

The thing about cycling is that even when you’re tired you get somewhere eventually despite the seemingly interminable suffering. It’s just being patient and doing what you’re doing. We got to the top and no sooner had we started our ‘relaxing’ descent when Mr. Impatient tried to introduce his front bumper to my rear wheel. Yeah, I’m fuckin’ going slow. And no, I’m not going to be a gutter bunny on this narrow, curvy downhill. I’M GOING TO FUCKIN’ TAKE THE LANE AND MAKE YOU SLOW THE FUCK DOWN. Asshole. Eventually he screeched to the left and passed us. No, you don’t need to ask: of course, it was on a blind curve with a double line divider. There is no end of impatient, careless ass craters behind the wheel, which is why there are a lot of dead cyclists and pedestrians.

Back at the manse we were both tuckered out. Yeah, it was wonderful to be reintroduced to Redwood Road after a two-year absence. But maybe I’ll try to constrain my adventures to weekdays when the sport cars and motodudes are working from home. And I’ll do it when I’m fresh rather than already tuckered out. But then again, being old means you’re tuckered out all the time!

Ride Recap: Pescadero Loop

There are days when cycling Coastside just rules and last Saturday was one of those days. The lead up had me nervous because the weather forecast turned from just cloudy to possible rain showers. The forecast in the morning was 25% PoP at 10 AM, just as we would be starting to ride. The temperature also plunged; Friday was mid-70s and Saturday morning it was mid-40s and wind. Both Roger and I pivoted back to winter wear in order to forestall a miserable chilling. All that concern turned out to be wasted energy. Yes, it was overcast but there was no precipitation and the roads were completely dry. What it probably did do was keep the crowds away from the beaches making cycling along Highway One a less dangerous and unpleasant experience.

Cycling Coastside exacts a toll for all its goodness. It’s a schlep no matter how you cut it. Getting to Pescadero from SF or Palo Alto involves a drive and if you’re from the East Bay it’s an even longer drive plus a bridge crossing. And you get to do it all over again after the ride with the extra goodness of plenty of traffic. But it’s worth it. Most of our riding is done in the urbanized Bay Area, which means abundant traffic, crowded roads, stoplights, and plenty of development. Coastside on the other hand is deserted country roads, a distinct lack of houses, business parks, stores—in fact, anything involving concrete, steel, and Plexiglas—and instead the heady aroma of green fields, farmland, eucalyptus, and coastal sage. This is the closest that road cyclists get to “green showers”. Given how close it is to the suburbs it’s strangely peaceful out there and thank goodness development has stalled along the San Mateo and Santa Cruz coast. When I was growing up in Palo Alto the Santa Clara Valley was full of farms and orchards that were pleasant to tour and you didn’t have to climb over the Coast Range to enjoy it. In fact big sections of Silicon Valley’s urbanity were still ranches and open space in the early ‘70s. I now live in Contra Costa where Walnut Creek to Pleasanton form a solid band of suburbs not unlike LA’s. In the early ’80s when Different Spokes started riding out here it still was towns separated by ranches, grass land, and open space. But all that is no more: it’s been scraped and turned into mega-burbs, and being stuck doing rides in the ever enlarging suburbs is at times completely soul gutting.

So going to Coastside is well worth the cost in time and gasoline. Apparently a lot of other cyclists agree since we saw plenty of our brethren plying the same roads we were.

There are several variations of the Pescadero loop and Saturday’s was the basic: up Stage Road to the end, down Highway One to Gazos, back on Gazos/Cloverdale, just 31 miles. A few Pescadero loops ago I added in the jaunt up to Loma Mar in order to eat at the the Loma Mar Store, which had just reopened after about a ten year closure for remodeling. That adds another ten miles altogether.

The drive down was nothing special except experiencing relief when we saw there was no rain, fog, or even dampness on the roads. It was just six of us—Stephen, Paul, Chris, Roger, me, and Jeff P., which made it easy to keep track of riders.

In the typology of rides this one is an ‘eat dessert first’—Stage Road is the experiential highlight and you do it right off the bat. No sense in delaying gratification, right? All that nonsense about earning your miles is exactly that: cut to the chase and gimme the good stuff now! The little hamlet of Pescadero was brimming with activity at 10 AM; daytrippers were crowding the local coffee shop and cyclists were already heading into Amigos Taqueria for grub. Once out of town it was back to quietude and solace. We hardly saw a car but there were plenty of cyclists. They all had smiles on their faces. Stage Road was shut down in 2023 due to a road failure and it was sorely missed. Now we’re making up for all that lost time! Stage Road has remained unchanged over the many decades I’ve lived in the Bay Area. How can that be? It’s the same farms, the road is lined by ancient, regal eucalyptus trees, with nary a structure in sight. This is what you get when you curb development: luscious open space, greenery, and calm. The two climbs on Stage go up about 400 feet each and then drop you off at San Gregorio; this time we didn’t stop until we reached the end of Stage, which has another 400-foot ascent up to Highway One.

From there is a long stretch on Highway One all the way to Gazos Creek, about 14 miles. There are two sets of rollers divided by San Gregorio Creek and then Pomponio Creek. Each has a bridge over the creek where the shoulder disappears and it’s always a challenge to keep your speed up in order to get all the way over the bridges before the SUVs barreling down the coast give you a nice punishment pass at 65+ MPH. Today the traffic was relatively light making Highway One pleasant for a change.

We made the usual pit stop at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse and noticed that all the scaffolding for the restoration has been removed. The upper stage where the light is still looks mighty rusty. You can read about the restoration here. Maybe by this time next year it will be open again! For now we had to stand outside the barricades to admire it.

On Gazos Creek Road things calmed down immediately. In fact for the entire stretch of Gazos and then Cloverdale Road we were passed by a grand total of two cars. One of those cars headed towards the end of Gazos Creek Road rather than Cloverdale perhaps to hike into Big Basin. The paved section of Gazos Creek Road ends a little beyond the turn to Cloverdale. But the road actually continues unpaved all the way into Big Basin State Park. This is a fantastic road to ride, a bit steep, because it parallels the tranquil Gazos Creek and is thoroughly wild. Maybe this year we’ll head back on a dirt ride to check on the regrowth in the Park?

Back at the cars Roger decided to drive up to Loma Mar, Jeff wanted to go to Norm’s for artichoke bread, and the rest of us rode up. Loma Mar Store was empty for a change! No line to order food and it was brought to our table “quickly” (that is, for Loma Mar Store). I was thinking of a burger but as usual I’m stuck in a rut and ordered the breakfast sandwich, which is always a winner. I’m like that six-year old who refuses to try new food and sticks with the tried-and-true. Stephen, on the other hand, his interest was piqued by the burger and was persuaded to try one after the owner professed it was truly excellent. Having noticed the homemade bread being sliced in the kitchen, he ordered a custom job rather taking the standard brioche; Chris got the ‘standard’. Paul got the soup as did I along with my sandwich (what can I say? I’m a pig!), and Roger also got a breakfast sandwich. Sitting on the outside deck conversation devolved upon the logistics of living in Paris—Paul lives part-time in Paris and Stephen was heading there for a long stay–the etymology of ‘quincaillerie’, Parisian parlance, and why Paris is the best city in the world.

How the club has changed! Perhaps it’s due to age. In the early days of the club conversation inevitably turned to gossip about various members (and their members) and who saw who at the bars last night. Then it sadly turned to who was dying and ‘had you heard the news?’ Now we talk about aches-and-pains, our latest health travesties, health and home insurance, and where we like to travel. We are now officially old farts. But what has remained unchanged is that we love to ride together albeit at a less hasty pace than when we were thirty. And the San Mateo coast has remained beautifully ageless and unchanged! Do I wish that were true of us? Perhaps not. Age and beauty are not incompatible!

Cycle Touring in Japan, Part 6: Bicycle Laws

In Japan laws governing cycling equipment and behavior are similar to here but there are differences. In 2023 Japan passed a law making helmets mandatory for cyclists. However there isn’t a stated penalty for failing to do so. We saw plenty of cyclists without helmets on our recent tour, which implies that the law is not enforced in any meaningful way. Whereas here you can ride with one earphone, in Japan you cannot ride with headphones or earphones at all. Your bicycle should be equipped with a front light and at least a red rear reflector. But unless you’re riding at night this won’t be enforced although you may want them anyway since you’re going to be going through tunnels. By the way lights and reflectors technically are required when riding in tunnels.

In Japan vehicles proceed on the left side of the road. Cyclists are required to do so as well. Riding against traffic, i.e. on the right side of the road, is forbidden by law but even some Japanese do it. At red lights no vehicles may turn until the light turns green, i.e. “no turn on red” is the law. This applies to bicyclists as well.

There is no three-foot (or 1.5 meter) passing law in Japan.

Riding on sidewalks is common. You should always yield the right of way to pedestrians and go slowly when there are other users. Technically when you’re cycling on the sidewalk the speed limit is 10 KPH. This may make sense in big cities such as Tokyo where there are a lot of pedestrians. In cities this mostly seemed to be true. Japanese cyclists we saw were going pretty slowly when cycling on urban sidewalks. Faster cyclists used the roadway.

In California it is not illegal for cyclists to use a phone while riding. (It might be unwise but it’s not illegal.) However in Japan you may not use a phone while riding. Here it’s also not illegal to ride two abreast (despite what many an ill-informed police officer may say, it’s not illegal according to the California Vehicle Code.) However in Japan it is definitely illegal to do so. But this is another law that is rarely enforced. Out in the countryside it’s less important mainly because car traffic is often light and intermittent. (Plus enforcement is nonexistent.)

Thinking of taking your tandem to Japan? Don’t. It’s technically illegal everywhere in Japan for two people to ride on the same bike except in Nagano prefecture. This is another law that is unlikely to be enforced. This law apparently was enacted in reaction to cyclists giving a ride to someone on a bike that was designed to carry just one person. But technically it applies to tandem bicycles. There are specific exclusions for adults who may carry up to two children on their bike.

Having a beer or sake with lunch? Don’t. The blood alcohol limit in Japan is a low 0.05%, much lower than our 0.08%, and in Japan drunk driving/cycling is a serious offense.

E-bikes. The US in the only place in the world that has a three-level e-bike classification system. Everywhere else in the world an e-bike is limited to boost only up to 25 KPH, which is about 16 MPH. This is lower than our lowest class, Class 1, which allows boost up to 20 MPH. What we term Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes just are not available in Japan. Realistically what this will mean is that e-bikes in Japan will be slower and require more effort to propel at least on flat ground.

A note about bicycle shops. Because cycling in Japan is primarily functional—commuting, running errands, going to school and back—the typical Japanese bicycle shop is oriented towards providing service, repairs, and parts for inexpensive bicycles. Cycling here is more oriented towards recreation and more expensive bicycles. There are “pro” shops in Japan but they are primarily in cities except near recreation areas e.g. ski resorts and mountain biking centers. If your Dura Ace or Campy part breaks or you need to get that electronic shifting adjusted, you’ll be hard pressed to find help outside of an urban center.

2025 Centuries: August to November [Updated 9/3/25]

August
2 Saturday. Marin Century. 124-, 92-, 100-, 61-, and 37-mile routes. $155-$90. Registration is open.

3 Sunday. Civilized Century. $71. 100-, 75-, 60- and 35-mile routes. Limited to 200 riders. The 100-mile route starts in Redwood City goes up to SFO and returns before crossing the Dumbarton and returning around the South Bay. Registration ~~opens May 3.~~ is open.

16 Saturday. Cool Breeze Century. $113. 125-, 107-, 100-, 65- and 27-mile routes. A pleasant, not-too-difficult century down in Ventura county with great weather. Registration ~~opens April 1 (no fooling’!)~~ is open. Limit of 2,000.

30 Saturday. Tour de Fuzz. $135-$115. 100-, 62-, and 32-mile routes. Similar road to the Wine Country Century and even starts at the Luther Burbank Center! You can preregister without payment to hold a spot; registration ~~opens in March.~~ is open.

September
6 & 13 Saturday. Ride The Rim. $10 suggested donation. 33 miles. The NPS closes part of the Rim Drive to cars on these two days. Registration is ~~not open yet.~~ open. Now that the NPS is devastated, will it have money to put on this event?

7-12 Sunday to Friday. Cycle Oregon Rally. 303 to 140 miles. $1,534. Cycle Oregon has revamped its tour. Now it’s a week doing routes in two towns, Prospect and Diamond Lake. Asphalt and gravel. Limited to 600. Registration ~~is open.~~ closed Aug. 28.

13 Saturday. The Bay Ride. 130 or 40 miles. $167. 135 miles around the Bay from the Ferry Bldg or just 40 from the Ferry Bldg. to Oakland via Marin. A fundraiser for the California Bicycle Coalition.

27 Saturday. Napa Valley Ride to Cure ALS. 102-, 72-, 57-, 44- , 40-, and 23-mile routes. $100 registration and $200 minimum fundraising. From downtown Napa a tour through the Napa Valley and Pope Valley. Registration is open.

27-28 Saturday to Sunday. Bike MS: Waves to Wine. $70 start fee. Ride from San Francisco to Rohnert Park. Minimum $350 fundraising. Registration is open.

Eroica California. Eroica California seems no longer to be offered.

27 Saturday. Fall River Century. 200k-, 100 mi-, 100k-, and 25-mile routes. $85-$55. Limit of 500 but 100 day-of-event registrations too. Fall River Mills is northeast of Redding, about a 4.5 hour drive from SF. Registration is open.

27 Saturday. Lighthouse Century. $120. 100-, 75-, 64-, and 40-mile routes. Limit of 1,000. San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club’s other century. From Morro Bay a detour inland before heading back to the coast and halfway up Highway 1 and back. Registration is open.

28 Sunday. Tour de Cure. $?. $250 minimum fundraising and your registration fee counts towards your minimum. 100k, 50k, and 6k routes. Rides out of HP in Palo Alto. Registration is open.

October
4 Saturday. Sacramento Century Challenge. $115-$65. 100-, 63- 36-, and 16-mile routes. Rotary Club fundraiser for at-risk youth. Registration is open.

4 Saturday. Best of the Bay. $185. 200 miles. Registration is open.

4 Saturday. Bike The Bridges. 100k-, 50 mi, 50k, and 25 mile routes. $110-$85. Fundraiser for Special Olympics NorCal. From Martinez across the Benicia and Carquinez Bridges. Limited to 1,000 participants. Registration is open.

11 Saturday. 3F Century. 100-, 62-, and 37-mile routes. $85-$65. If you prefer a flat ride in the Valley in Colusa and Sutter counties around the Sutter Buttes. Registration is open.

11 Saturday. Asti Tour de Vine. $105. 100-mile, 100k, 50k, and 25k routes. Rides in northern Sonoma county starting in Cloverdale. Registration is open.

18 Saturday. Foxy Fall Century. 100-, 100k, and 50k-routes. $110-$60. Fee includes one-year membership in Davis BBcycle Club. Limit of 1,500. Registration is open.

18 Saturday. Tour de Lincoln. 100k-, 50k-, and 25k-routes. $?. If Foxy Fall is too crowded for you, here’s a community ride just up the road in Lincoln. Their website appears to have been hijacked. Contact them through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TourdeLincoln/

18 Saturday. Ride Santa Barbara. 100-, 62-, and 34-mile routes. $180-$106. It’s a longish drive south but Santa Barbara is a great place to do a century with beach front views and fantastic climbs in the Santa Ynez Mountains including Gibraltar. Limited to 2,000. Registration is open.

November
15 Saturday. Death Valley Century. 100-mile, two 50-miles routes, and a 62k route. $181. Limited to 300 riders. Registration is open.

I’m Fixing A Hole (Part 6: Inspecting Your Repair)

I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go
—Lennon/McCartney

Inspect your work!
You’re not done yet: you need to inspect the entire bead to make sure you have no part of the inner tube trapped under the bead. On the side of the rim where you inserted the spare tube, push the bead back from the rim—you should see no inner tube. If it is completely inside the tire, no part of the tube should be visible. Continue inspecting around the circumference of the rim. If you see some inner tube showing, make sure you have some air in the tube and then massage that portion of the bead to try to get the tube fully underneath. This may take a few seconds. Then continue until you have inspected the entire rim bead. Then inflate the tube with your pump with a few pounds of pressure. If you do have any trapped tube, some pressure may allow it to pop fully into the tire. Deflate and inspect again: go around the rim again and push back the tire bead to make sure no tube is showing anywhere. If you see any tube, go back to massaging it into place.

I want to emphasize how important this step is: if you have any tube stuck under the bead, you will explode your tire when you pressurize it enough. That section of trapped tube will inflate and there is nothing to restrain it and it will pop suddenly. If you’ve ever exploded a tire, you know it can be deafening especially if you do it indoors. Usually a tube will explode right away if you’ve pumped it up to full pressure. So make sure you have no tube trapped under the bead. Check it once, check it twice and don’t be in a hurry. If you explode your spare, then hopefully you have a second or you can patch your flat tube. Out on the road inflating your tire with a mini pump is less likely to explode your tire than CO2 because small pumps just can’t inject air very quickly and you are more likely to notice your tire bead bulging before it can explode. If you see it bulging, immediately deflate your tire and try to move the inner tube so that you can no longer see it under the bead.

When you’re confident you have no tube trapped under the bead, you can proceed with pumping up the tire. As you pump and the air pressure increases, you may hear snaps as the bead pops out of the well and onto the rim ledge. This is a good sign that the bead is in place. Usually if the inner tube is trapped, this can’t happen. You may hear several snaps as different sections of the bead pop onto the ledge. Sometimes you don’t hear any snaps. When the tire is pumped up firmly, you’ll want to check if the bead is truly in place. You can visually inspect it: just above the rim on both sides of the tire there is a small line molded into the tire sidewall. This line should be visible and about the same distance away from the rim all the way around. A quick way to inspect is to hold the wheel with both hands and spin it while looking head on at the top of the wheel. If you see the tire hop up and down it means that there is a portion of bead that still isn’t in place. In particular check any spots where the tire appears to hop up–this may be due to bead not being able to seat because part of the inner tube is still trapped under the bead.

Sometimes the wheel needs just a little more time for the pressure to force the bead into place. If you’re doing the repair at home, you can let the wheel sit overnight. But if you’re not at home and on the road, not having the bead fully seated for the entire circumference is not a hazard as long as you are certain the tube is completely inside the tire and not trapped anywhere under the bead. It is now possible to ride with the wheel but you will probably feel the wheel hop everytime the wheel completes a revolution. Sometimes riding a wheel will help that final section of bead pop into place and the hop vanishes. If you have a really recalcitrant tire whose hop just won’t go away, there is a special tool–tire pliers–for prying that bead into place. (But it’s not portable.)

Before you start inflating the tube make sure that the valve is standing straight up. If it’s canted, it means the tube is pulled along the rim. You’ll want to straighten it because after inflation a canted valve puts additional stress on the rubber at the base of the valve and the eventually it will either tear or abrade open. If you can’t easily straighten it completely, you will have to undo the bead in order to shuffle the tube inside the tire.

If you haven’t already, you should now inflate the tire up to its usual pressure. Reinstall the screw-on retention nut if you had one. Then you can reinstall the wheel back on your bike and continue. When you arrive home, you can then repair the inner tube.

Regarding pressure: most portable pumps do not have a pressure gauge to indicate how much pressure you’ve actually put in your tire. So you are flying blind and the best you can do is the “finger test”—pinch the tire and see if it feels like your tire usually does. This is a completely unreliable method of ascertaining the actual pressure. If you’re a real tire nerd, you’ll either have a pressure gauge in your saddle pack or you’ll have a portable pump with a gauge. If you’re less of a tire nerd but still want some assurance, here is something you can do even if it is a bit tedious: at home deflate your tire all the way and then pump it up with your portable pump using a gauge to tell you the pressure after a number of strokes. This is a good—perhaps too good—workout for your arms but in the end you will know approximately how many pump strokes you need to do to get your tire to your preferred pressure. This of course will be different for different size tires because the amount of air you need to inject will differ.

Ride Recap: Pedaling Paths to Independence

I’ve written before about this small metric century held in the small ag town of Linden, which is a few miles east of Stockton. You can read about the event here and here. It’s put on by the Community Center for the Blind and Visuallly Impaired in Stockton as a fundraiser for their tiny non-profit that provided needed services to people who are blind or have low vision. By today’s standards it’s also a steal at just $65 for the metric. (There is also a 25-mile route for $50.)

I’ve inadvertently turned into a champion of this ride and I mostly seem to be holding up a lamp in the darkness by myself as almost no one from the club seems to be interested in traveling 90 miles out of the Bay Area to do this beautiful ride. Why do I like this ride? I’ve mentioned before it harkens back to a much, much earlier time before centuries blew up and became mega events. It’s got a much friendlier and “in-group” feel because it’s so small, probably less than 300 riders all told. And this year I’m wondering if they got even that many.

This year was almost as good as last year: sunny and not a hint of rain. Although it was a tad chilly at the start I was shedding my layers by the first rest stop and it stayed warm the rest of the day making for a classic great day on the bike. Even the usual westerly afternoon wind was mild.

When I arrived at the start there was a bit of a crowd. I saw club jerseys mainly from the Stockton Bike Club, Davis, and Sacto Wheelmen, all Valley clubs. No club from the Bay Area was represented but I did see a couple of Marin Century jerseys. In the past there was a diversity of bikes represented—hella expensive to bicycle shaped objects. This year I noticed a lot more carbon and titanium. Are these frame materials getting cheaper? Or is the Pedaling Paths crowd getting more upscale? Being such a flat ride there were tandems and a recumbent or two.

By the time I had checked in and gotten my bike ready the start was almost deserted. Hmm. I did get a later start than usual, after 9 versus 8:30. But…

On the road there seemed to be fewer cyclists than in the past and I assumed it was because I was starting late. This ride comes early in the season and I’ve never done it at a fast pace simply because I’m not riding much in February. By this time though I’ve typically already got one metric under my belt—the Velo Love ride—so it’s not too grueling. Last year I had ridden almost nothing before the ride and I also had taken three weeks completely off the bike doing a car tour in New Zealand. That I survived that ride was a miracle even though I was deliberately going slowly and even using the granny on the short, rolling uphill stretches. This year I was doing better: January was miraculously dry and I got a lot of miles under my belt. But again I had a long break off the bike so approaching this ride I was again apprehensive that I wouldn’t be able to finish it without being shattered.

My strategy was the same as last year: try to go slow, stay zone 2 as much as possible, don’t chase wheels. As I’ve evolved into the Ancient Bicyclist I’ve been smitten increasingly by paralytic leg cramps. When I was younger this rarely happened and when it did it was on very hot days when I was riding really hard. Now it just happens when riding. Consequently I’ve had to up my game and actually pay attention to what I’m drinking, when I’m drinking, and—gasp!—holding back even though my body says go, go, go! Carrying Pickle Power juice has become a necessity. Gone are the days I do rides with just plain water.

All day I religiously plunked electrolyte tablets in my water bottle, drank a vial of pickle juice at each rest stop, drank my electrolyte fluid like a fish and lo and behold, no cramps. That isn’t to say I didn’t get tired. But at least I wasn’t writhing by the side of the road in pain with uncontrollable spasming.

The first miles are spent just due east of Linden, an area populated by large walnut orchards providing a pleasant canopy. I saw hardly anyone. A “young” man (he looked to be in his fifties) passed me as I stood by the side of the road drinking and asked me if I was okay. I ended up chasing him almost all day even though it wasn’t my intention. Before the first rest stop at mile 15 is a long southerly stretch. Again I hardly saw anyone, maybe six cyclists altogether. At the rest stop hardly anyone was there. Also unlike in the past there weren’t any PBJ sandwiches, just fruit, Clif bars, and mercifully, strong coffee! Maybe the registration was down this year?

I happened to leave the rest stop with two other oldsters—who looked younger than I!—who were riding just a smidgen slower than my pace heretofore. This was a godsend as I was getting some slight cramps in my feet and calves and was concerned I had blown it and I was heading towards full thigh cramps. So I tailed them for a while hoping the precramping would abate. At times they were pullling ahead of me. At an intersection I caught up with them and the woman asked me if I wanted to pass. I responded, “Not at all! I’m not sure I’m going to be able to finish this ride!” She said, “Me too!” But she was riding more strongly than I. Eventually they stopped to drink and I continued. Miraculously the foot cramps vanished and I felt much better. Even so I was deliberate about staying zone 2.

The southern end of this loop is cattle country and boy, did it smell like it! Although the fields were green they didn’t seem as lush as they did last year. Then I realized that all the grass had been chewed off to nubs. Oh right, cattle. Grazing fields butt up against huge cherry orchards that were exploding in a light pink. Cherry blossom season in Japan is in March but here the temperatures are so much milder that they bloom earlier. Sakura and cattle poop—can’t have one without the other it seems. The lunch stop was at 40 miles at the Milton cemetery. The ten miles or so beforehand is rolling and I saw no more than five or six other cyclists. Each little hill had me gearing down so I could spin as much as possible to forestall cramps. I took it easy on the short downhills. Even so I somehow managed to pass a few guys.

Lunch was different this year: instead of ham and American cheese on white bread, it was turkey and American cheese on white bread! Food like this hadn’t passed my lips for a year. But I was famished and gobbled it up like slop before a pig. (I hadn’t had any breakfast.) For salt it was Lay’s potato chips. It all hit the spot. More pickle juice just in case.

It was 26 more miles to the end and the next section promised a few more rolling hills. I saw not a single cyclist all the way to the last rest stop. All day traffic had been exceptionally light of both the car and bike kind. Even motorcycles, which love to race these roads, were a rarity. No punishment passes or crazy 80 MPH drivers this year. It was just quiet roads, beautiful and serene. At the northernmost point of the loop I hit another low spot: the hills were still short but even steeper, and the pavement was cruddy. I was getting tired. The longest ride I had done so far was just 43 miles. I just geared down, went slower, and took my time. Then it was back on the flats again for the run to the last rest stop. I finally saw some cyclists there. Had I caught up with the main group? I made a brief pit stop at the Porto-San and took off, just nine more miles to the end and more food.

I could smell the barn now, my legs still weren’t cramping, and I decided to speed up. I passed a guy who was dawdling and shortly thereafter I realized he wasn’t going to let me go and was trying to catch up. No matter. I passed about ten or fifteen riders and made it back to the start. Even though I had eaten lunch just a short time ago I was ready for more grub. As usual it was pesto pasta, focaccia bread, salad, and baked chicken. It was all good. But then I could have eaten shoe leather and thought it was tasty. The dining area was full, about 50 or so riders chowing down and gabbing. So I went next door to De Vinci’s restaurant and ate there alone. A fitting way to end a ride that saw me solo the entire day. And no cramps! Maybe I’m finally learning from all my mistakes.

Assuming it doesn’t rain I’ll be back next year assuming I’m healthy. But I’m wondering if CCBVI will put this event on again. The vibe is very cool and friendly but I know they’re not putting this on for the vibes. If people don’t register and donate cash, it’s just not a winner for them just as it isn’t for the SF AIDS Foundation to keep putting on Lifecycle. They could certainly do better marketing. This event is flying so under the radar that it’s hurting them. I know putting on a century ride is a huge undertaking so it better pay off well. And even if it pays off well there’s only so much volunteerism in your blood before you burn out. Hopefully there are others to whom the baton will be passed to carry on the hard work.