At Least It Got Me Home

I took a nice little 30 mile ride on the Fat Black Cafe bike (as I've taken to calling it), today. About two hours after I got home, I moved it from the living room to the bike building area, and found that the front tire was flat. It had been fine when I got home. I never noticed it getting low, or anything. But, there it was, flat as a pancake.

Now, I don't find it surprising that it went flat. Part of the ride took me down a portion of the Highline Canal Trail, to the Cherry Creek Trail, here in Denver. Both of those trails are notorious havens for the "goat's head thorn", which cause many, many bike flats in this area.

About 3-1/2 miles of the ride was on the dirt singletrack mountain bike trail which parallels the Cherry Creek Trail. Again, a high risk area for flats.

No, it didn't surprise me that my tire was flat. What surprised me was that it didn't go flat during the ride. Instead, it got me safely home before succumbing to its wounds.

The singletrack part of the ride was very interesting. The trail I was riding is not much of a challenge, technically, on a geared bike. I used to ride it on my highwheeler, to make it interesting, a few years ago, and I haven't ridden it at all in a year and a half, probably. So, it has changed, somewhat in the meantime.

Where the creek bank has eroded, the trail has moved to the side. New anti-erosion sections of rock have been added in places, and some short, steep, drop-offs have been added. It was fun, even though I was over-geared and had my stem a little too low. (The bike is set up for around-town duty.) It was challenging, and fun, on the fixie.

This evening was Roller Derby night, at the Bladium. My friend Randy and I went. Our local team, the Rocky Mountain 5280 Fight Club went at it with the Neander Dolls, from Las Vegas. I took some pictures, but it's kinda dark in Bladium, and they didn't really come out very well, so I can't post them. Suffice it to say, it was a good show and a fun time was had by all.

Oh, and the PX10 I bought off of eBay a couple of weeks ago is built, complete with white powder coat, black painted Nervex Pro lugs and a new decal kit from www.yellowjersey.org.

Watch for it on the www.fixedgeargallery.com page in the next week, or two.

I'm working on another Triumph bicycle, too, which will actually go up for sale on my site (I'm keeping the PX). It is back from powder coat, and I hope to have it built in a few days. Watch this space, as they say.