23 August 2007
My first flat tire with my new bike.
Posted by Brad Hefta-Gaub under: Cycle; Stretching; cervelo; cervelo p2c; fixed gear; fixie; flat tires; triathlon.
Well, it was going to happen some time… and so I’m glad it happened today and not on race day.
It’s actually kind of amazing that I haven’t had a flat yet on my fixie, which I rode for like 2500 miles since I bought it late last year, and in only about 150miles I’ve already got my first flat on my new triathlon bike.
I had a PT appointment today for some ultrasound on my IT band and my tweaked hamstring. Now, my left leg feels great! So what happened on my ride today? How about my right quad/vmo freaks out on me! Ouch… cramping up as I think about it. I actually rode home 18 miles with only up-strokes.
The moral of the story? I gotta not only stretch before+after rides, but I think I will now add “the stick” and the foam roller into every pre-ride routine. I also think I may set up a bike on a trainer and do some light spinning before stretching before any real ride or run.
Jeeze!
Workout:
- Type: Cycle
- Date: 08/23/2007
- Time: 17:00:00
- Total Time: 2:05:00.00
- Distance: 36.5 miles
- Average Speed: 17.52 mph
3 Comments so far...
Fitness Over Forty Says:
When I first got my Trek 5200, I was getting flats all the time. I noticed that my tires had racing tubes in them, which seem to be made of lighter material. I kept asking if the racing tubes were more prone to flats and they kept telling me no.
I never quite believed them. I switched to the “normal” tubes and it really decreased my flats.
I have also now switched to four season tires and I haven’t gotten a flat in over two years. You probably want to keep racing tires on for your ironman, but for just training, the four season tires handle all the junk in the road much better.
wsfowler Says:
Brad, I wonder how much of the cramping during your ride is due to the new position you’re in on the bike? It can certainly take a while for your body to adapt to a new riding position.
I second what Phil says about flats. Go for a more robust tire/tube and always make sure that you’re riding at the proper pressure.
Lennard Zinn has some insights on tire pressure: http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/13059.0.html
“… the bomber 140-160psi pressures so popular with many triathletes and some bike racers is misled. The bike feels fast and lively because it is bouncing all around, but that is actually slower, since you will be doing more work to maintain the same speed. You are much better off in most cases between 90 and 120psi.”
Brad Hefta-Gaub Says:
Scott,
I’m sure part of my leg pain has to do with the new compact high angle bike position. Which is why I wanted more than 3 weeks to adjust to the new bike before the race. This bike is definitley different then my road bike.
Today I rode the Summit’s of Bothell course… it is one hell of a ride… hill after hill after even bigger hill…. I am almost regretting the 23-11 cassette I asked for. 39×23@650 is a 3.0 meter rollout… which is pretty much the smallest gear I would ever ride on my road bike… but having that be the absolute bottom of my gears puts new meaning into bottom gear. It’s like riding the fixie… there’s no wimping out.
