The worst time for a puncture?
geerfree
Posts: 74
Thought I would start this after one the other day, while I was crossing a big highway I hit a pothole and had to run the bike over road to avoid being hit.
In a race, it would have been when had 2 punctures in about a 5 minute period and lost a LOT of time.
Share your experience.
In a race, it would have been when had 2 punctures in about a 5 minute period and lost a LOT of time.
Share your experience.
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Comments
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First thing in the morning as you're rushing off to a race but still haven't left the house.0
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In the p1ssing down rain on the pitch black Taff trail at 7pm on the way home from work in freezing December.
No contest___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
Once, a bus was chasing me down the hill from Pecket Well to Hebden Bridge. I was doing 40 mph and there was oncoming traffic. I got a front wheel puncture, not one of those slow ones where pressure drops slowly - a pssst-flat. one. I had to do my emergency braking using just the rear brake, the bus almost ran into the back of me and I almost swerved into the oncoming traffic. By the time I'd stopped my tyre had actually come off the rim. That was a near miss...
Another time, I descended Birchcliffe Road in Hebden Bridge on my MTB. That has a 230 metre long descent at 21% gradient, leading into a bend tighter than 90 degrees. I hit 50 mph approaching that bend, braked hard, got round the bend and turned onto the flat road at the bottom doing about 5 mph. At that point the valve ripped out of my front inner tube, my front tyre came off, I slewed across the road and fell off in front of an oncoming car which managed to stop with about 6 feet to spare. That was also a near miss....
Yet another time, I did a high-speed descent of a steep, rocky local bridlway which has a 100 foot drop to the side of it. I got onto flatter bridleway below and heard a funny noise coming from my front wheel so I dismounted to investigate. It turned out that I'd split my front tyre and the inner tube was bulging through and had been rubbing on the forks as the wheel rotated. I watched in fascination as the tube bulged further and further through the split and then BANG - it exploded! :shock: Yet another near miss...0 -
Brushing aside a rather catastrophic NorthShore puncture, the winner for me happened on a nice wet descent. This road descends for about 8km at around 8% with nice long sweepers. The side of the road is wooded with a 6-foot wide, 8-foot deep ditch between the road and the forest and (thankfully) no railing. Going down this thing above the 60kph mark, I had a "pow" puncture. Instantaneous loss of any kind of pressure, and any kind of handling along with it. The only way I managed to avoid hitting the deck then and there was going in a nice straight line... towards the ditch... at 60 an hour. I managed to jump out of the pedals as the bike was pointing its nose towards the ditch's deep end, fly over the ditch and crash land in the bushes. While I got away with some bush rash and a few twigs sticking out of me, my carbon forks were not so lucky. Long walk home.
I never did find out what caused the punture.0 -
I could lower the tone and mention the word 'condom'...0
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ColinJ wrote:Once, a bus was chasing me down the hill from Pecket Well to Hebden Bridge. I was doing 40 mph and there was oncoming traffic. I got a front wheel puncture, not one of those slow ones where pressure drops slowly - a pssst-flat. one. I had to do my emergency braking using just the rear brake, the bus almost ran into the back of me and I almost swerved into the oncoming traffic. By the time I'd stopped my tyre had actually come off the rim. That was a near miss...
Another time, I descended Birchcliffe Road in Hebden Bridge on my MTB. That has a 230 metre long descent at 21% gradient, leading into a bend tighter than 90 degrees. I hit 50 mph approaching that bend, braked hard, got round the bend and turned onto the flat road at the bottom doing about 5 mph. At that point the valve ripped out of my front inner tube, my front tyre came off, I slewed across the road and fell off in front of an oncoming car which managed to stop with about 6 feet to spare. That was also a near miss....
Yet another time, I did a high-speed descent of a steep, rocky local bridlway which has a 100 foot drop to the side of it. I got onto flatter bridleway below and heard a funny noise coming from my front wheel so I dismounted to investigate. It turned out that I'd split my front tyre and the inner tube was bulging through and had been rubbing on the forks as the wheel rotated. I watched in fascination as the tube bulged further and further through the split and then BANG - it exploded! :shock: Yet another near miss...
Sounds like you've escaped death quite a few times, I have seen a lot of decent puctures, never experienced one though which is good!0 -
In an alternative sense, I was unlocking my front door a few weeks ago when I heard this hissing sound. Front wheel puncture. This was very luck as I'd done two hours in the sleet and rain and had managed to forget my pump at home, meaning I'd have been stranded had I punctured further from home. There's never a good time to puncture but this was just about ok.
As for bad timing, there have been some bad cases of riders puncturing in races. Was it Henrik Redant in the early 90s who had a puncture in Paris-Roubaix and couldn't get a wheel for ages? Moments like this can determine your career, one of the reasons why sport can be such a tough way to earn a living.
Similarly, one of the forum members here emaddden said the other day he was riding the Tour of Lombardy gran fondo and was with the lead group when he punctured on the climb up to the Ghisallo chapel. Not only that but he was on some tasty wheels I recall.0 -
andy_wrx wrote:I could lower the tone and mention the word 'condom'...
daddy...is that you?0 -
Kléber wrote:In an alternative sense, I was unlocking my front door a few weeks ago when I heard this hissing sound. Front wheel puncture. This was very luck as I'd done two hours in the sleet and rain and had managed to forget my pump at home, meaning I'd have been stranded had I punctured further from home. There's never a good time to puncture but this was just about ok.
As for bad timing, there have been some bad cases of riders puncturing in races. Was it Henrik Redant in the early 90s who had a puncture in Paris-Roubaix and couldn't get a wheel for ages? Moments like this can determine your career, one of the reasons why sport can be such a tough way to earn a living.
Similarly, one of the forum members here emaddden said the other day he was riding the Tour of Lombardy gran fondo and was with the lead group when he punctured on the climb up to the Ghisallo chapel. Not only that but he was on some tasty wheels I recall.
All it takes it a small stone and you can be out of the race in a flash, bit unfair really.0 -
I always find that the worst time to have a puncture is when you currently don't have one.It doesn't get any easier, but I don't appear to be getting any faster.0
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Worst time for a flat?
One minute to race start, you're straddling you bike with one foot clipped in, surrounded
by 40 or 50 guys, and then you hear it(and actually kind of feel it). Everyone starts groaning and giving you all kinds of sh*t. The official says he will give you 4 minutes to fix
it. More groaning and all kinds of sh*t. You manage to get it fixed and return to the start line to a chorus of boos, catcalls, etc. What could be worse?
Dennis Noward0 -
dennisn wrote:Worst time for a flat?
One minute to race start, you're straddling you bike with one foot clipped in, surrounded
by 40 or 50 guys, and then you hear it(and actually kind of feel it). Everyone starts groaning and giving you all kinds of sh*t. The official says he will give you 4 minutes to fix
it. More groaning and all kinds of sh*t. You manage to get it fixed and return to the start line to a chorus of boos, catcalls, etc. What could be worse?
Dennis Noward
I'll tell you Dennis... Rolling out in the neutralized section of a race, getting 2 miles from the start point, 1 mile from the Marshals point where you turn onto the circuit and your tyre goes pop. With no neutral service. To make matters worse those following with spare wheels refused to help (can't blame them to be honest). That was, what's the word, discouraging."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
disgruntledgoat wrote:dennisn wrote:Worst time for a flat?
One minute to race start, you're straddling you bike with one foot clipped in, surrounded
by 40 or 50 guys, and then you hear it(and actually kind of feel it). Everyone starts groaning and giving you all kinds of sh*t. The official says he will give you 4 minutes to fix
it. More groaning and all kinds of sh*t. You manage to get it fixed and return to the start line to a chorus of boos, catcalls, etc. What could be worse?
Dennis Noward
I'll tell you Dennis... Rolling out in the neutralized section of a race, getting 2 miles from the start point, 1 mile from the Marshals point where you turn onto the circuit and your tyre goes pop. With no neutral service. To make matters worse those following with spare wheels refused to help (can't blame them to be honest). That was, what's the word, discouraging.
Yes, I tend to agree, but at least in your situation you only get laughed at by the other riders for a second or so and then they're gone. No catcalls, just humiliating laughter
fading into the distance.
Why didn't the spare car stop? Did you have a spare in it? Or was it so called "personal"
spare cars just following along and not neutral support? Oh yeah, you said no "neutral".
Dennis Noward0
