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March 29, 2008 / Saturday
My Tires, They Did Not Asplode
Woke up today when my phone rang. My boss needed to talk to me, so I got out of bed and did a little work. I figured since I was up I'd just stay up, so I made some ice cream and did the rest of the season stats. We're missing a Maroon scoresheet; I am sad. After that, I cleaned the kitchen and bathroom so my friend Kimmy wouldn't have reason to "Ew!" when she and Tony visit this weekend. Did you know I have four bottles of Scrubbing Bubbles-esque products, all of which are mostly full? I keep buying them thinking they'll use themselves.
I kept thinking I should go for a mountain bike ride (I'm supposed to be training, after all), looking out the window at the overcast sky, and deciding I didn't want to ride after all. Besides, my new tires weren't mounted yet. I decided to go to the garage and take care of that.
Mounted the tires in record time and did a really quick test bounce in the tiny parking lot behind my apartment complex. That did the trick; I wanted to see the tires in action on the trails.
Got my gear together, loaded up, and headed out. One block from my destination I realized I didn't have my shoes. Headed back, picked up my shoes, and headed out to try again.
Finally, time to ride! I parked a little more than a mile from the trailhead so I could warm up on the roads leading to the lot I usually stage from. Today's ride was interrupted by lots of little stops to adjust my seat, dump rocks out of my shoe, etc., but I think I made it to the first peak a little faster than on my previous rides. Goodie.
Next came the big crazy downhill. I did it just fine the last time, but this week I was convinced that I was going to die halfway down. It probably had to do with the fact that I was still apprehensive about wheel issues on fast descents from last week. By then, there was nothing I could do but ride it out, so ride it out I did, and whaddaya know, I'm still alive.
Did my usual favorite loop, then rode up Toyon. The final huge hill did me in again; I stepped off, caught my breath, finished the hill, and stopped to see if my heart was really going to asplode. It calmed down after a minute, and I headed on up to the next peak.
After doing all the peaks, I took the big long trail down to the parking lot on the other side of the park. It's about an 800 foot drop in just over a mile and a quarter, and riding down meant that I'd have to ride back up. Normally, I wouldn't do this (I have this fear of getting stuck if I ride down instead of up first), but I need to train, and this was a good way to force myself to do it.
I took another detour before heading back to the car. Final stats: 14 miles with 2,402 feet of climbing. The more time I spend back on dirt, the more confident I feel cornering on the downhills. Every second counts, so the faster I can go around those corners, the better off I'll be.
As for the new Specialized Roll X Pro Duals, they'll do. They're grippier than my original tires, but not as good as the Panaracer Fire XC Pros that blew off my rim. Of course, I'll take not blowing off my rim over a little extra cornering traction any day. Sliding out in a corner costs some skin and maybe some bones, but eating it due to complete tire failure costs a heck of a lot more.
Still, I'm tempted to try the Panaracer Fire XC Pro Kevlar tires next. If the bead is a different material I get to consider it a different tire, right?
March 29, 2008 07:20 PM | Mountain
Comments
Since the bead is an important, major, structural part of the tire, then yes, you can consider it a completely different tire. Also, Kevlar makes anything at least 12.7% more awesome!
Posted by: Mike at March 30, 2008 06:35 AM
Awesomeness is cumulative, right? So if I replace both I'll have upped teh awesome factor by 25.4%?
Posted by: Viv at March 30, 2008 11:17 AM
Definitely cumulative. In fact, red sidewalls give you a few percent own their own. You may be as high as 29.83%!
Posted by: Mike at March 30, 2008 03:52 PM
Oh, the elusive 30%! Maybe if I put a playing card in my spokes I'll finally hit it.
Actually, on this ride a stiff leaf got stuck and made a clicking sound against the chain, which distracted me into stepping off my bike on that really steep part of Toyon. For reals.
Posted by: Viv at March 30, 2008 09:28 PM