So this past week I made some significant changes to the gearing on Fix-e, and went from a 16 to a 15 in back, and then to a 14. This means a tougher inch-gear, allowing me to go faster on the flats, but makes it harder to climb, because the cadence is lower. Wifebot(tm) decided it was time to get on the bike again, and wanted me to take her on a ride, and because she fears the traffics and the deaths, we drove in to Marin and parked at my office, and used that as our HQ for the Paradise Loop, which is nearby (which is why I can do the 20-mile loop at lunch) and so soon we were ready to go. I had tuned up her bike, which hadn’t been ridden in three years, and I was eager to get on fix-e and see what was what. For one thing, I had never ridden Paradise fixed. Another, I dropped gearing to a harder gear, so I wasn’t sure how that was going to work. But it was time to find out, and so we did.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I totally mashed on this! I wasn’t going fast, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a manageable gear. It will be interesting to see how it fares on the next Headlands ride, that’s for sure. Anyway, we did reverse Paradise, so we knocked out the Camino Alto section first. Got passed by a lot of riders but we were going slower than even I needed to, as wifebot(tm) got her bike legs again. The descent we chose to do the squirrely single lane route vs going down the back side of Camino Alto, and it was challenging while managing it on my one brake and lots of back-pedaling. The new rims are deep non-machined wheels, so you have to put more muscle into the braking. Kind of tiring, but all fixed descents are.

On the way up the Tiburon section, my wifebot(tm) got into her groove and took off, and I had no hope of keeping up. Just when I got to about the half way point, I heard the telltale POP-FISSSSS of a flat. Dammit! Jack Baur would say.

Anyway, I pulled off and got out of the way of the deaths, and examined my problem. On the one hand, it was the front wheel, which is easier. On the other, on a fixed gear, the rear wheel flat is easier than dealing with it on a road bike, so it wasn’t too troubling either way. But here’s the wrinkle: it wasn’t a puncture flat. It was a sidewall failure. What the? I said. Then I examined the wheel and noted that the ENTIRE circumference on that side was showing signs of sidewall failure, kevlar threadbare areas exposed. With dread, I regarded the bike and saw the problem clearly for the first time. I’m amazed I didn’t see this earlier. The brake calipers are too short for these rims! I wasn’t expecting this. The brake pads were half hitting the rim and half hitting the tire sidewall. More on the right side than the left, apparently.

I didn’t have the socket to adjust the brake levers (!) which surprised me because I thought I had gone through the bike and gathered every sicket needed for my road kit. I did, except for where I didn’t, I guess. Anyway, What I was able to do was loosen the brake caliper closing distance at the cable hanger thing, and that meant at least they wouldn’t rub as easily. But another problem occurred: I got the tire off and pulled the tube, got my replacement out and… huh. SHORT valve, not long. The valve barely poked through the rim. Which meant that i couldn’t get the CO2 nozzle head around it. Fortunately, I made wifebot(tm) bring a separate road kit on her Bianchi, so I took the micropump from that, and could just barely get to the valve. But only just barely. I could only inflate to maybe 30psi… I would lose more air than I would add half the time. It took about 45 minutes but I finally got the bike road worthy. The front end was squishy and REALLY dodgy (can’t turn much, can’t lean forward) but it was at least ridable, which was a good thing, 12 miles from the car.

This meant I had to take it slower, not only to ease pressure on the wheel and avoid the potholes and road obstructions, but also because I was not using the brake! So I did the back half, and the descent, without the brake, which is NOT the Thommy way. I went VERY slow. But the successes were had. Reuben sandwiches in Tiburon, sat by the water (in the cold wind, not 24 hours from record heat wave days) and then rode back to the car, with no issues.

So, I consider the ride a success, and have new challenges to solve: need new tires, as this front one is trashed, and need to see if I can get longer calipers. But hey, rode Paradise fixed for the first time, and Team Lope representeds!

See those bits of light shining on the rim from the shadow of the tire? Those are sun poking through the THREE different places where the sidewall failed!

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