Day 34 - The Bulge

Ryan and I were about 12 miles from Ness City when I noticed that it felt as though I was riding over a bump about every 3.5 feet. I asked Ryan to look at my rear wheel and he said it looked like it had a bend in it. I pulled over and it was not the wheel, but the tire that was giving me the bump.

There was a bulge in the rear tire. I have never seen anything like it before. On the side of the road I deflated the tire, massaged it a bit and pumped it back up. The bulge was still there. There was no room on the side of the road to flip the bike over and remove the wheel to examine it further. Alexander was just 4 miles away. The only option was to ride it. You ride the bike...fix it when you can.

In Alexander, I realized what the issue was. I have now put more than 2,000 miles on that rear tire and it is worn thin in one particular section. This means that the tire is weaker and so the tube, when it is pumped to 100 psi, can push the weak rubber of the tire and distort it causing the bulge. So, again, with limited options I put a piece of duct tape over the worn tire and kept riding.

After seven miles on the duct tape I had the idea to switch the tires. The rear tire gets worn more quickly than the front because there is more weight on it. We stopped at a store in Bazine. There was nothing in it besides a large empty refrigerator and some soda machines. There wasn't even a person inside. I bought a couple sodas and brought my bike inside to switch the tires.

A young guy eventually came out of the back of the store. He chatted with us for a bit and said he needs to close up the shop in a few minutes. This was fine as I had already switched the tires and now just needed to pump them back up. I could add more layers of duct tape outside. 

As we were leaving he said he wanted to get out of here because there was a guy coming by that wanted to have a spare tire put on his truck. He did not want to have to put a spare tire on a truck. Despite his bad work ethic, the man said he knew something about tires. I did not see any other tire repairmen around so I figured I'd ask him for any advice on my tire situation. 

He said he could help me out real quick and went back inside. He came back out with a tube patch that is used for tractor tire tubes, some vulcanizing glue, and got to work. 

Derek: my tire repairman. 

With all the stops, Ryan and I got into Ness City pretty late and booked a room at the Derrick Inn. 

Here is how the tire looks now.

The bulge was rubbing against the brake pads. So, I removed them.

The next bike shop is in Pueblo, Colorado which is 272.5 miles from Ness City. That is four days of riding. Worst case scenario is I have to ride that far to get a new tire. You ride the bike...fix it when you can.

I'm not too concerned.