Smokey Goes "Lame" :-)

I arrived at Happy Trails today with Smokey & greeted Mari Jo with the statement; "Smokey is lame!"   After my last ride, I'd come back to town & taken the Explorer & bike to the car wash.  The self-service was the only empty bay & I about froze.  The temperature dropped & the spray from the nozzle filled the air.  The car was filthy after our last rain.  The consensus in town - was that the rain had cleaned all the dust from the air & deposited it All on our vehicles!  (Car washes must make a small fortune in IA).  It's handy though - to have Smokey on the rack.  An easy way to blast the grime off the bike at the same time.

 Once home I found Smokey's  rear tire flat.  Not good...  I've never changed a tire on a bike & decided it would be a good time to learn.  I called Mari Jo & asked if she was available in her off-season to do the repair.  Thankfully, she was!  (It helps to be her riding partner!)

A thorn?

It was a real bear to break the tires seal on the rim!  It took both of us to get the tire off.  We pumped air into the tube to find the leak.  A decent size hole - we could easily hear & feel the air escaping. Mari Jo started going over the inside of the tire. She found the problem.  At first, we both thought it was a thorn, but upon closer inspection Mari Jo discovered it was a very hard sliver of wood.

Wood sliver right through the tire~

I couldn't help but be surprised at how hard & sharp it was!  The sliver had found the perfect spot in the tire to work its way in to the tube.

Almost 1/2 inch~

Getting the rear wheel back on the bike took some finesse & experience with bikes.  Mari Jo has both.  Once it was back on, the trick is to get it perfectly in position for the disc brakes to work properly & the wheel to turn without rubbing.

Mari Jo fine tuning~

It was during this process Mari Jo told me to listen!  She explained it was easier to hear if anything was off balance rather than see it.  I had to laugh - as her words were almost exactly the same as my good friend & mentor Dean used to explain regarding horses & lameness.  That it was easier to hear a lameness rather than see it - in the early stages.  

The bike rear wheel - turned smoothly!  Very smoothly - which is one of the things I like so much about these bikes!  They shift smooth, ride smooth & are very quiet. 

We've not added tire liners to these bikes - yet.  Now I've seen the work involved in fixing a flat, I think I may be investing in the newer type liners we'd had installed on the Trek bikes.  Tannus liners advertise even if you do get a flat, you're able to ride the bike back.  Something I think I'll invest in again...  I'm just thankful Smokey didn't leave me on foot far from the Explorer!