Bon Voyage

So today I head off to Espana for about 9 days of training. My buddy showed me the weather for the next week and its says its going to rain every single freakin day. Hopefully the Spanish weather men are worse then the ones here which if that were the case its going to be sunny with chances of dollar bill flurries, can't wait! Got the bike all packed, which was a fun one lemme tell ya. I found out the hard way that my pedals are permanently in my record crank, the threads spin with the pedal threads so i had to throw my old aluminum crank on there, hope everything works out well when i build it back up in Andelucia, otherwise i guess ill be renting a bike. Well since my flight doesn't leave till 11pm tonight its time for a pre Spain ride and hey look, the sunshine is beaming so ill be sure to bring some with me on the plane but I'm sure TSA is going to confiscate it...

Some of us have the luxury of never having to patch a tube cause they just buy a new one. I know plenty of riders who would never ride on a patched tube, hell I've raced on a patched tube....I've raced on a tire that had a dollar in between it and the tube to prevent it from blowing out...and it held! I am your typical poor, young, cyclist who cannot afford to buy a new tube every time that I have a flat (which Ive had about 4 in the past 2 weeks, they seem to come in spurts). So I will save all the flat tubes and put them in my "rubber bag". While I was still employed by a bike shop I bought a huge bundle of Rema circle patches, a box of 100 i believe, to battle the over flowing "rubber bag". So there I sat, watching the latest Burn Notice (Yes Ted king I do like to watch crappy drama tv!) patching my rubbers. Its a fine art really, one has to be careful to spread the glue all around the tube and let it dry a little bit before applying the patch. Once applied and ready to dry I will take the tube, inflate it and put it in my bathroom sink to check for leaks. Quality control is very important if your depending on this thing to get you home when your 50 miles away. Which is also a reason why I carry glue less patches in my saddle bag. Some of my tubes are even patched twice, blasphemy!!!! I bet you didn't know but you can patch a tube as many times as you want but I would say anything over 3-5 is time for retirement, unless your really sentimental about the tube in which case I would say make the whole thing one giant circle of patches! Trust me I have seen worse from being a bike mechanic but def haven't seen it all.
So, the next time your about to throw away that poor tube who was there for you on all those rides when you DIDN'T get a flat send it my way and I will make it roll for another day....or another 1,000 miles!

Riding is.....GOOD

Well the knee finally healed up a couple weeks ago so I have been able to ride pain free, from my knee that is. Spain is only two weeks away from today so very exciting. THe weather has been nice this past week compared to the bitter cold it has been. Yesterday I was out riding in shorts, shorts! In Feb! But it didnt last long cause today the wind is so bad that its dangerous to even go out and ride a bike. The thing to do back in Co on windy days like this was to ride the tailwind 150 miles out intot eh flast and have someone pick you up....never did get to do that tho....but I have been able to spin out my 53x11 from a wicked tail wind section. one of these days ill return CO!