Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Tire-Changing 101

For a race like the Ironman, there are going to be so many things beyond my control. The biggest and most completely out of my control is the weather. Monsoon rains? Lightning? 110 scorching-degrees? Absolutely nothing I can do about it. So, my main objective is to make peace with the things I can't control, and do everything possible to prepare for the things that I can. First up: fixing a flat. I need to be able to change a tire in 5 minutes by race day. If I can change a tire in 5 minutes in the comfort of my own home, then I should be able to change one under duress in the middle of the race without losing too much time.

Yesterday was my first weekly tire-changing practice. I got the rear tire off easily, used my tire-levers and pried the tire off the rim, took out the tube and deflated it, put the tube inside the tire, and then put them both back in the rim, not very gracefully, but I had everything in place within 15 minutes. Not bad! But as I was pumping my tire back up, I noticed it wasn't holding any air. And then I heard it: the hiss. Damn! I must have pinched the tube with the tire levers putting them back on.

Back to the basement, grab another tube, and this time I try putting the tube on the rim and then try to put the tire over it. Still pretty sloppy and I had to use the tire levers a lot to get the tire back on the rim. It's like another half-hour this time, and when I go to pump up the tire, my hand slips and bangs against the cassette and now my hand is bleeding. But I'm pumping the tire -- almost done! And then I hear it AGAIN! The hiss! WTF?! I pinched another tube!!

OK, good thing I stocked up on tubes. I grab another one, watch a Youtube video because even though I JUST took a class at Fitwerx a couple of months ago doing THIS VERY SAME THING, I seem to have completely forgotten everything I learned. SO! This time I keep one side of the tire inside the rim and push the tube on to the rim inside the tire. I work the other side of the tire down as much as I can with my hands without using the tire levers. I'm getting there, but that last part of the tire is so hard to do that I *very* carefully use the levers and after much cajoling, I finally work the tire back on the rim. My hands are streaked with grease and blood, I'm sweating, my kids are looking at me like I'm crazy, but I did it. No hissing, just a fully inflated tire in just over an hour and a half. Yikes.