And no place better than riding the Buckhead Bellyache!
This ride is one hill after another through some of the nicest, extremely monied neighborhoods of Atlanta. For the most part the hills are short, sometimes steep but nothing really strenuous except Cumberland Parkway, imho.
Unfortunately my pre-ride activity was more telling than the ride. I was starting to unload and found my rear tire flat. Thinking that by sitting in the sun all day my fully pumped up tire just exploded, I quickly pulled the wheel and stuffed a new tube in the tire w/o checking for a possible nail, glass, etc. still stuck in the tire. Just before I started to pump it up, my hand ran across something sharp. A closer examination revealed a small piece of solid copper wire protruding from the tire. I tried several times to pull it out by hand but had to resort to one of mans best tools...my teeth. Out it came in a jiffy.
With the flat tire culprit removed, my worry now was did I somehow damage the new tube. I didn't have my real pump, only a small carry along, hand pump, I put as much air in as I could and hoped for the best. Not having the real hard tire I'm used to, my confidence was not at it's best. The fear of a slow leaking tube was at the fore front of my mind.
Across the street, flashing on and off, was the "open" sign at Peachtree Bikes. My spare tube was already installed, do I go buy another tube so if bad goes to worse during the ride, I'll have a spare? Looking down at my tailgate at all the stuff I pulled out of my back pockets, I saw some Park Tire Patches. I quickly decided to do a patch job on the copper wire flatted tube and be on my way. I came here to ride not shop, and daylight was in short supply. I gotta tell you, the Park Tire Patches were a breeze, don't leave home with out 'em.
The sun beat me today and I finished the ride at about 8:15 pm. and yes, I did damage the tube, the tire held up through the ride but the next day it was flat. I really like this route. Check it out below:
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