10/10/17
Cicero, NY > Amsterdam, NY
Miles Ridden – 121.6
Mileage to date – 4,025.4
In the spirit of the baseball playoffs, John achieved the triple crown today – his 3rd day on the tour with 2 flat tires in one day! I was able to witness his first 2 double flat days. Perhaps this is a sign that I should be riding with him on the last few days of his trip? I had thought of doing this but unfortunately I am on travel for work this week.
On a positive note, John passed the 4,000 mile mark on his trip today. He has a little more than 200 miles of riding to get to Boston. The plan is to stay at his house in the Berkshires tomorrow (10/11). My google map of his route shows him ending in Western MA but he will continue to Boston.
Despite his flat tire woes he is in good spirits – “Today’s ride started very well with cool but nice weather. While NY bike route 5 is a bit sterile, the track is pretty good with a sizable shoulder. Perfect conditions for a rider to move quickly to their destination. I stopped for my second breakfast when I discovered I had yet another flat tire. I pulled the tire off and checked for debris inside the casing and replaced the tube. A short while later I could feel my tire slowly losing air again, kind of a bummer. The leak was slow and I convinced myself that there must be some problem with the wheel that I wasn’t seeing. I decided I needed a bike shop and after riding most of the day periodically checking the tire I found one. It was 4 miles off route but I thought I should go there to get more tubes and have someone else look at my wheel, after all there was some mystery problem that required a professional. I went to The Bike Works in Johnstown NY and told them my issue. The guy in the repair shop had the wheel for about 5 minutes and told me there was a little piece of wire that got thru the tire casing and put a hole in the exact same spot on both tubes. I felt very relieved and very stupid. I looked for something like that when I replaced the tube earlier in the day but I couldn’t find it. If I’d have found it I would have ridden 114 miles today instead I rode 122. It’s a good thing I like to ride a bike…..oh well, you’re never going to bat 1000. Tomorrow should be about 90 miles to the Berkshires but I’ll see if it’s possible to add some more mileage, just to keep it real.”
Photos from today including what I assume is the culprit for the flats – 
