Blow Out…

So I took my NWT for a ride this afternoon after doing my luggage and was having a very nice brisk ride when…
BLOW OUT!
Actually it wasn’t quite that exciting. It was more a flaaattt….pssst….
Then I discovered that I am, in fact, an idiot. I’d forgotten my 15mm wrench. Last time I had a flat I had to buy one because, you guessed it, I’d forgotten my wrench.
So it goes.
Luckily I was near a Sears store, so I bought yet another wrench and went to the park (Ala Moana) to fix my flat.
In the failing light of the day it wasn’t really that easy, but I discovered a few things about changing a flat on SRAM Dual Drive wheel I hadn’t known before. Last time I made it far more difficult that it needed to be because I hadn’t loosened up the nuts (those dreaded 15mm ones) quite enough. This time I finally figured it out.
Unfortunately when I began to inflate my tire I discovered another problem. There was a weak sidewall and the tire was separating from the bead; the tube was popping out. Oh no!
What I should have done is immediately stop and use the trick I was to use in a minute or two, but I didn’t remember it one time. The sidewall ripped a bit more. Then it came to me…use money.
No, there wasn’t a store open to buy a new tire, at least not one I could get to in time, but I could use a dollar just the same.
I deflated the tire and put my money between the tube and the ripping sidewall. Then I inflated it again and…it was holding.
It held for a couple of miles which was great. I still had to walk a mile, but it was better than nothing.
Here’s the result though…

It looks lighter inside the rip because that’s a dollar bill in there. 🙂
Here’s my real gripe, and I’ll be the first to admit it might be misplaced. I don’t think I like Kenda tires. The blowout was on a Kenda and I think the last major problem I had with tires were with Kendas as well. When I first started riding my Giant I had more or less the same problem with the original tires…Kendas.
They might make great tires, but I’ve had at least two instances of bad luck.
Thank goodness I’ve got two bikes. 🙂
Aloha!