Day 22: Tire trials and tribulations

June 20, 2010

Let's see, where was I? Oh, yeah, my tire, and my great hosts Carol and Charlie...

First, it was SOOO nice to wake up in a nice bed and to a great breakfast! After that Carol drove me to a bike shop to pick up more tubes. Thanks Carol!

I got a late start; it was hard to leave all that "hominess." But in the end, I decided I couldn't stay forever, I mean after a week or so I might just find the Trucker and all my stuff out on the curb! ;-)

So after a late start I was off... I rode down to Grand Junction and saw an open bike shop. I was still not comfortable with my 'new' tire after the previous day's trials and tribulations...

"Do you know anything about this tire?" I asked the man at the shop, who made a closer inspection.
"I have never seen that one."
"Do you think it will get me to Denver?"
"I SHOULD be ok," he said, adding, "I don't think the sidewalls will blowout in the first 50 miles or anything."

Hmmmm? Won't blow in the first 50 miles?! My mind raced ahead to the upcoming ascents and, worse, screaming high altitude DEscents, and the sidewall blowing out or the tire rolling off the rim.

We looked through his stock of tires. He had some good ones in a 700 size but nothing in 26's. He suggested REI, so off I went.

REI carried Gator Skins so I swapped out the rear tire there. It was nice to feel confident about the tires again.

So, I had a REALLY late start, as in 1:30ish but, with the help of strong tailwinds and easy grades just FLEW up the mountain--it was fun. I rode a good stretch on highway 70 which was not too bad. After a while I was on frontage roads.

After that it was pretty straight forward and I ended up in Parachute, CO.

All the streets in this area are numbered with fractions. What the...?

Bypass around the highway 70 tunnel. Nice ride here.

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 1,590 miles (2,559 km)

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