Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Got it!

2000 miles in the books.

It was a challenge with the flat this morning. I was able to fix it before leaving work. I had an extra tube and tools (I carry a tube and tire tools, along with a mini tool on all my bikes) however, I only had a small mini pump. While is does work, it is a lot of work to fill a 32c tire. I have a full frame pump that I want to put on this bike, my commuter, but have not gotten around to it yet. Guess I will have to figure that out quick. I was lucky, a co-worker happened to have his floor pump in his car and that took care of it.

The culprit? A small bit of glasss or a pointy rock... I really couldn't tell. It looks like it had gotten stuck in the tire and worked it's way in. I couldn't feel it inside the tire, but confirmed that the hole in the tube matched the location in the tire. The lesson here... routinely check your tires for "stuff" heading in towards your tube.

So, I got out of the office a little later than I wanted.... sun was rapidly setting.
Took a longer route home to get the extra miles I needed to achieve my yearly goal. Rode back by Lake Lenexa... noticed the cool lights on the bridge, though I don't think the picture does them justice.

NW winds made the ride a bit gueling and the rapid dropping temp really cooled things down. I was running my new DiNotte light. Love this light. It is small and powerful and ran the whole time, to and from work. I ran my other light as well, a Nite Hawk dual haligen set up. It was out of juice by the end of the ride home... now it is only rated for an hour to an hour and a half, and I left the SLA battery outside all day, while the DiNotte was inside. (just found out that Nite Hawk is out of business... oh well, I've had these lights for a couple of years and they have plenty of use left.). I think the Nite Hawk would perform better if I had taken the battery inside. With the two systems, I have a good coverage for longer night rides using the DiNotte as the primary and adding the Nite Hawk during really dark stretches. Can't wait.


Sunset and the moon with the leafless tress made for an interesting shot.
One last note. I need to thank both Noah and C'Dude for their excellent KC based blogs. I have followed both for most of the year and they have really inspired me to continue this blog and to add photos. I have found that since starting this, it has motivated me to ride more, take more photos and try, many times poorly, to relate my cycling life in words. Thank you to both these guys for sharing their experiences.

2 comments:

Noah said...

Thanks for the link. :) And those are some great pics! I love that last shot. The moon is just a sliver in the night sky.

Noah said...

And congrats on making your goal. I am pretty close, but i didn't quite make it today. I'll get it tomorrow, though.