Trial by Tire

I admit it. I'm a fraud. I call myself a Randonneur (or, rather, a Randonneuse) but that isn't totally accurate. Sure, I've paid my dues and received the handbook. Yes, I've scanned the book looking for the secret handshake. I've even done four 200K Permanents. But I don't think I've ever been thrown into the real Randonneuring fire... until today.

Things started out normally enough. I drove to Benson NC to start my favorite Permanent. I arrived early and got my bike ready to go. I had bottles of ice (a trick from my PedalPAL) and cold gatorade and blinky lights.

When I started out from home at 4:45, the stars were visible. By the time I got to Benson, it was cloudy. My next door neighbor told me there was a 78% chance of rain for Sunday. Seventy eight? Since when did they start predicting rain down to the 1%s? The weather site I looked at said only 50%, not TOO bad. So I opted for the prediction I wanted and decided to go for it.

I waited for the cash register clock to roll over to 6:30, then I plunked down my Golden Graham bar, asking the clerk for a receipt and to sign my control card. He wasn't all that sure that he should be putting his initials down, but finally made a scribble (maybe he's a Physician in training). I exitted the control, ready to ride, only to realize I had never gotten my requested receipt. I should have seen that as on omen.

After returning to the store to get the receipt, I headed out. The cloud cover kept it cool, but the temperature was at dew point. I kept thinking it was starting to rain even at that early time. I finally discovered it was sweat dripping off my face onto my knees. Yuk. This might turn into a LONG day. But I did arrive at the first contol in good time (not GREAT time, but not too bad), got my receipt and kept on moving.

Riding by Aversboro Battlefield, I encountered debris in the road -- pieces of tread shed off by a truck. I navigated around it and said a little prayer that I hadn't gotten any pieces of steel in my tires. Hmmm. Perhaps I shouldn't have even thought about that.

Right after the battlefield, I seemed to hear a noise that was related to the rotation of the tire. I stopped and examined my front tire. How strange... it seemed that the brakes were rubbing in one spot on the tire. I spun the tire repeatedly trying to figure out what was wrong and after about 5 minutes I heard a huge POP! The tube had actually bulged up so much that it had pushed a portion of the bead of the tire outside the frame and then had exploded. Oh mannn. I never should have written the note about all the bike problems at the Cup and Cone.

When I practiced changing a tire in my driveway, it took me 1 1/2 hrs. I remember thinking that if I ever had a flat, the level of skill I possessed for changing it would only allow me to get back home, not finish the brevet. That seemed a good objective today -- I was about 22 miles out at that point. I unloaded my pack and set about fixing the flat by putting in a new tube. I tried to check if anything had punctured the tire and didn't find anything. So I decided that I had inflated the tube too much on Saturday and the heat had finally caused it to expand and burst. It took me about 45 minutes, but I did get the tire changed (thanks to the fact that the tube expansion had already pushed the bead of the tire outside the frame).

So now it is 8:47 and I have to decide what to do. Do I go forward and hope I can get to the next control in time, or do I go home and call it a day?

I decided to try to make it to control 2 before the closing time. I wasn't sure the tire would even hold up, since I had never changed one on the field before. Surprisingly it did. I pedaled for all I was worth and managed to get to control 2 about 10 minutes before it closed.

Buoyed by my success, but worried that I might not be able to keep the pace, I hesitantly decided to strike out for Tar Heel. I left Stedman at the time the control closed and figured I might be able to make it to Tar Heel just before the cutoff time. It was close. The clouds that had rolled in now were black and the winds became very heavy as they do before thunderstorms. I didn't think I would ever get up that last hill to the Tar Heel control under the time limit. But again, I did make it with about 15 mintues to spare. Yikes, this is too close for comfort.

Again, I tried to get on my way by the time that the control closed to ensure that I could make it to the next control in time. This time, however, I was riding directly into black clouds and, sure enough, about 30 minutes after I left Tar Heel the predictions of the weather sites proved true. The skies opened up in torrential rain. Wow, I was getting experience in all sorts of real Randonneuring events today!

It poured for 45 minutes then abated a bit but thunder and lightening was all around. I pedalled on. It rained for about 2 hours. The good thing about it was that it was now cool. The bad thing was that I couldn't see much with all those raindrops on my glasses and mirror. If only I really COULD do this route with my eyes closed!

With luck, I managed to reach the Stedman control about 40 minutes ahead of its close time, so I left that control before the offical closing hour. OoooEeee.... I might just finish this in the time limit. Go me !!

The Erwin control closed at 6:30. I was thinking I could make that. I powered on from Stedman, passed the place where I had fixed the flat, passed Aversboro Battlefield heading for the left turn to stay on 82. I was making GREAT time. In fact, it looked like I would be at the contol an HOUR before it closed. Wahoo. Then, just before I got to the left turn to stay on 82, here, I rode smack dab into 2 holes in the pavement. Oh pooh bah. This can't be good, but I kept rolling on with my fingers virtually crossed.

Sadly, by the time I got to the left turn, my front tire was soft. By the time I got THROUGH the left turn, my front tire was flat. Still optimistic, I got my tire pump out again and pumped the tire up, hoping it would at least last to the Erwin control which was only 2.3 miles ahead of me. Alas, it wasn't to be. I guess I had one of those dreaded pinch flats. Obviously my morning flat repair had been faulty.

Well, this seemed to be it. I had come about 108.5 miles and had about 16 to go. It was 5:10 and I had til almost 8 to finish, but no way I could walk that far by 7:50. I didn't have a 2nd tube or a patch kit (I don't know how to patch a tire, so I didn't bring one along). So, I started walking my bike the 2.3 miles to the Erwin control, hoping someone would stop and ask if I needed help. No such luck. I got to the control before it closed, but I could see no way that I could fix my bike and carry on. So I threw in the towel -- just 13.8 miles from the end.

There were a couple of older gentlemen sitting in a red pickup truck in front of the convenience store. When I walked my bike up, they asked me where I was coming from and going to. Then they asked me if I was from Raleigh. Strange. Why would they ask that? Turns out they "haunt" the place and have spoken with several cyclists on the Tar Heel 200K. They even mentioned the tall, skinny guy from Raleigh -- presumably Dean.

They seemed friendly and nice enough, so I asked them if there was a taxi in town to take me to Benson. Nope. And the driver of the red pickup truck said he couldn't go because he had a litle dog in the car. But he offered his buddy to take me since that fellow had a pickup and no little doggie.

We shoved the bike in the bed of the truck and me, with all my gear, in the passenger seat and headed to Benson. I had a nice chat with this former trucker, who delivered me to Church St. and my car. When I repeatedly tried to pay him, he refused and told me to do good to someone else. So, I put my handicapped bike on my car and headed home.

So ended my "Trial by Tire". It was a real roller coaster ride. When I got the flat, I figured I should just turn back. However, as I kept rolling forward, each time I made it to a checkpoint in time, I was jubilant. When it looked like I might finish, despite the tire, the rain and the wind, I thought "finally I am a real Randonneur". Guess not. Maybe next time.