04/02/2006

I forgot to mention on my 400k Brevet report that one of the pins that hold the flip up arms on my Profile Design Air Stryke Aerobars broke.  I spent a lot of time worrying that what was left of that pin was going to come out (it kept sliding out).  So after trading some emails with Jeff, I decided to upgrade to the Profile Design T2+ Cobra carbon aerobars.  Jeff and Mike Cox put them on for me last week and I used this Florence ride to get a feel for them.  The difference in feel is huge, but expected.  These are "S-bend" bars, so they have a relatively aggressive position.  The arm rests are also fixed and don't flip up so they are more quiet.  But I found the hand position to be a bit awkward for long distances.  It's not a huge problem, but I started getting some wrist pain after about 40 miles or so of using them continuously.  If I moved a finger up, the pain went away, so I think its just a matter of adjusting the angle a little.  Anyway, I'll talk to Jeff about that...

We weren't planning on doing anything during the day, so I took my time getting ready and didn't leave the house until after 8:30.  It was the first ride of the year where I didn't need arm warmers!  Nice.  I changed my route a little and went up Brown to Old Apache Trail this time.  Shortly after starting the ride my left arm rest on the aerobars slipped down -- crap!  It needed to be tightened up some.  Hmmm... did I remember to pack my multi-tool?  Of course not!  No allen wrench to tighten it up.  Ok, so I'll go into Apache Junction and look for a mechanic at a service station.  I discovered that both Apache Junction and Gold Canyon only have gas stations with food marts!  Darn...  It was the last day of the Renaissance Festival, so the highway patrol and some security guys were diverting traffic.  Great!  That highway patrolman probably has a tool kit!  He did, just no allen wrenches...  On to Florence, pulling up on that left armrest every 5 miles or so...

A couple miles after talking to that patrolman I had a front tire flat.  On Thursday I was trying the aerobars out on my rollers and had a front tire flat then too.  Uh oh...  I checked around the tire, but didn't find anything, so I fixed it and continued on my way.  Just outside of Florence it went flat again!  This time I took the tire off the rim, turned it inside out and checked very carefully all the way around.  I also checked the rim to make sure the rim tape was still good.  Still didn't find anything, but now I was down to one spare tube and over 50 miles left in the ride.

When I got into Florence, I headed down to main street to see if I could find a service station.  No luck, but I did find the fire station!  Excellent, they'll have allen wrenches!  So I pulled in and went into the lobby.  The lights were off.  There was a phone by the door with instructions to push the button labeled "fire" to talk to someone.  No answer.  This just wasn't my day!  So I headed back down main street.  I only got a couple blocks when I saw a fire engine headed my direction.  Alright!  They must have been out on a call or getting lunch or something.  So I went back to the fire station, they did have allen wrenches and I got that screw tightened up!

Florence isn't quite 100 miles from my house and I wanted this to be a century, so I headed south out of Florence until I passed the 51 mile mark, then u-turned and headed back.  I stopped at a Chevron station to fill a bottle and get myself an Arizona Fruit Punch and my preferred ham, turkey and cheese lunchable for lunch.  They had a table outside, so I sat down and took a little extra time eating. 

There was a bit of a headwind on the way back, but it wasn't really all that bad.  There's a spot on US 60 where gravel trucks get on and off the road.  Naturally that section is loaded with gravel.  I was trying to be really careful, but there was one section of rocks that I was able to avoid with my front tire, but my rear tire hit one dead on!  Pinch flat for sure!  A couple minutes later, the bike was bouncy and I had to stop to fix the third flat of the day with 25 miles left in the ride and no more spare tubes.  I did have a patch kit and I had some water and a couple co2 cartridges left, so if necessary I could have fixed one of the tubes, but that would have been a pain.

Just after getting off US 60 (at Goldfield road where it turns into freeway) that left armrest dropped again!  D'oh!  The screw must be coming loose because it was tightened down pretty good in Florence.  Guess I'll try adding some lock-tight to it...  I hit one more rock on a section where they were working on Main Street in Mesa, but luckily it didn't cause a flat and I was able to get home without any more problems.  Overall, a good ride and I think once I make some minor adjustments to the aerobars they will work fine for next weekend's 600k Brevet!