Crash!

Despite the heat wave we've been having lately, I've been able to get some time in on the bike.  It's been mostly (dirt) road riding, but today I took the mountain bike out for the first time in a while.  The 95-degree temp and high humidity reminded me of Mississippi, and I was sweating like a pig.  After climbing for a long time, I decided to turn around and call it good.  The descent was mostly a dirt road I've ridden many times.  However, it turned out to be a lot looser than it's ever been.  I was probably going 35+ mph and came into a sweeping left hand corner a little too hot.  Despite being on the front brake a lot, the rear started to slide out, and I could tell I wasn't going to make it.  If I tried to ride it out, I was going to go off a bit of a rock wall and into some big trees, so I laid the bike down hard.  I hit the ground quite hard and hit my head pretty good.  Really glad to be wearing a helmet!  Road rash was minimal because the trail-side was lined with ferns, but I did hurt my wrist pretty good and my left side is pretty sore, including my head. 

As I was sliding quickly off trail, I must have understeered a good bit to try to bring it back.  In the process, the tire rolled off the rim (even at 45psi) and the tube exploded.  My left (front) brake lever was also bent skyward.  These brake levers had been on my trials bike years ago, so they've seen a lot of abuse.  Needless to say, when I tried to bend it back into place, it snapped right off.

I normally just carry a patch kit to deal with flats, but since the tube blew up, there was about a 6 inch tear in it.  No patch would ever fix that!  So, it looked like I was in for a long walk.  After a mile or so, I had an idea of how to fix it.  Cut the tube in half, knot it in the middle, and see if it would hold air.  Well, it did... for a little while at least.  It lasted long enough for me to get out to the paved road.  While walking alongside that, a road rider came up and gave me his spare tube, which I thought would work but ultimately didn't.  While trying to pump that up, some teenagers walked by and I asked to borrow their phone.  I gave Chrissy a call and she came to my rescue.  I'm going to make sure to carry a tube and my phone from now on!

Worth a shot right?

So far so good...

Hmm... this might actually work.

Oh well, good enough for a few miles.

Snap.  Luckily, I have a spare.