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I'll be doing my ride on Bontrager H5 Hardcase tires. These are mostly impervious to flats and they are a bit wider and more aggressive (knobby) than what I've been training on till now. It is nice to have less likelihood of a flat tire while on my trip, but a bit of research revealed that a flat in a hardcase tire is quite a bit more difficult to change out. This biker wrote a funny blog about her experience changing one. And this video gives great advice on how to make it a bit easier. It's kinda funny because the old man doing the demo is breathing hard while doing it...making the point that it's going to be a real challenge I think if I ever have to do it. I decided to travel with some string or wire after watching his video though. They weigh nothing.
A funny story while at the bike shop getting the new tires... My usual bike shop wizard Rudy had more time to spend with me because I purposely came in on a Monday night, knowing that there would be fewer customers and I'd get more attention. I always go in with a bunch of new questions. He greeted me with, "You must be getting excited. You've come so far...we've been calling this your Get Even Tour!" (Rudy knows that taking up biking is part of my healing-from-divorce journey.) That just cracked me up. I told him that as it draws closer to actual departure, I grow a bit nervous - in the what-am-I-possibly-thinking kind of way. He and his wife have done a lot of bike touring and he was very reassuring that this was normal (he still gets it) and part of the fun of what you're doing. Rudy also put me in touch with a Pittsburg friend to get a bit better information about how to manage once I get to Pittsburgh; that was really kind. Before I left the store, a technician from the back spent time showing me some typical things that could go wrong on the bike and what to do about them (some I can do, some that mean go to a bike shop!). Not sure that improved my nerves, but it was necessary.
I have baptized the new tires and they do feel somewhat heavier/clunkier on the trail, but I don't think they made me any slower. I'll get used to them in no time.
A funny story while at the bike shop getting the new tires... My usual bike shop wizard Rudy had more time to spend with me because I purposely came in on a Monday night, knowing that there would be fewer customers and I'd get more attention. I always go in with a bunch of new questions. He greeted me with, "You must be getting excited. You've come so far...we've been calling this your Get Even Tour!" (Rudy knows that taking up biking is part of my healing-from-divorce journey.) That just cracked me up. I told him that as it draws closer to actual departure, I grow a bit nervous - in the what-am-I-possibly-thinking kind of way. He and his wife have done a lot of bike touring and he was very reassuring that this was normal (he still gets it) and part of the fun of what you're doing. Rudy also put me in touch with a Pittsburg friend to get a bit better information about how to manage once I get to Pittsburgh; that was really kind. Before I left the store, a technician from the back spent time showing me some typical things that could go wrong on the bike and what to do about them (some I can do, some that mean go to a bike shop!). Not sure that improved my nerves, but it was necessary.
I have baptized the new tires and they do feel somewhat heavier/clunkier on the trail, but I don't think they made me any slower. I'll get used to them in no time.