I Don’t Get Flats, Thank You Stans

Brad and I showed up early for the SORBA ride last night so we took off for a warm-up lap. As we were coming back toward the road off of lower Sulphur Springs, I hit the little rock booter and quickly realized I was coming down sideways with my weight forward. Crap, so as soon as the front tire hit and I heard the “brrrrrraaaaaaaaap” of my Nevegal squirting air and Stans all over I knew I was done. I did a OTSOTB (Over The Side Of The Bars) exit and came out unscathed for the most part.

I knew we were headed back to the lot so I just rode lightly with the minimal PSI I had back to the car. I pumped the front tire back up and then was riding around talking to everyone when I went to let a little pressure out the front. As I was trying to open the valve, in one quick burst I heard “FSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!” I looked down and realized I was holding the entire valve in my hand as it had come unscrewed.

I screwed the valve back in and pumped her up to 4 billion PSI to reset the bead. We were on our way. It was a nice night with clouds that had a Halloween feel. However it was still quite warm.

Coming down the first Section of Brissy Ridge I heard a loud pop and the sound of air leaking every tire revolution. I kept riding until my pressure was really low hoping the Stans would hold true. When I looked at the puncture it was a about the size of this “v” in the middle of my tire, since I hadn’t ever tested whether the Stans would really seal a puncture like this, I pumped up the tire with CO2 and took off flying downhill hoping it would seal.

We went around the lake and came back up to the lower section of Brissy and back up the road. Then we made our way down Mountain Creek and the Stans held. That was pretty sweet.