(Temporary Backup) Day 19-The Tire Saga Continues…

Last night a guy showed up at the park who had met Matt and Grace (or his wife had met them???). Matt had been having multiple flats. The guy offered him the use of his “foot pump”. Turns out it was a floor pump. When he brought it over, I asked if I could use it. The guy decided to be “helpful”, and unscrew my Presta valve. Only, I don’t have Presta valves, I have Fillmore valves. Of course, he proceeded to let all the air out of my tire. Good thing he had the “foot pump”. I aired up the tire (but not too much as that seems to be the problem…it will hold air, but not too much).

This morning, it hadn’t lost any air…yay! I moved as much to the front panniers as possible to take weight off the rear wheel. We headed out at 6:30 with fingers crossed that the tire would hold. 

Today was a 3-Pass day. First up was Dixie Pass. It was the longest and highest of the three. 

A nice day for a bike ride. 

Stopped at this view point. Back is Matt, Grace, and Matty. 

Paño of the view. 

Pass #1. 

The descent was also long. Because the rear tire wouldn’t hold air up to the right pressure, at moderate speeds, there was quite the wobble. At very low speeds (like when climbing), there wasn’t really a wobble. Then at high speeds, the wobble also disappeared. So, at least I got to go fast down the Pass. 

At the bottom of Dixie, we finally got off Hwy 26. We’ve been on it since coming into Prineville. Now we were on Hwy 7. 

Matty making the turn onto 7. 

Shortly after the turn, we started up Pass #2, Tipton Pass. This one wasn’t as high (but just barely). It was also almost as long. 

Pretty flowers along the way, though. 

Number 2 done!

At the bottom of Tipton, I saw some shade in a driveway for the road works. We decided it was a good spot for some lunch. 

Doug and I even pulled out our chairs. Sadly, Matty doesn’t have a chair. 

As we pulled out of our lunch spot, I noticed the tire was now really soft. I stopped and added air, but it just became soft again. So, I put a plug in where it was leaking. Then it held air. This was at the base of climb number 3, Sumpter Pass. 

There was no summit sign for Sumpter. 

Again, I sailed down the Pass. We passed the turn to go to Sumpter, and continued on to Union Creek Campground. The tent sites are just $15, and they don’t take Doug’s Golden Pass. That’s okay though because it was still just $7.50 each. Doug and I are on one site, and Mattyis on another site. If we’d known Matt and Grace weren’t going to come here, we would have squeezed Matty into our site. 

As we arrived at the tent sites, my rear tire decided it was done, and went completely flat. I tried putting a larger plug in the main puncture, but it still wouldn’t hold air. So…I finally broke down and put a tube in. Anyone who knows me and tubeless, knows that I will only put a tube in as a last resort. Unfortunately, it came to that. Fortunately, it wasn’t terribly difficult. There was also no longer any sealant in the tire. No wonder it wouldn’t hold air! Got the bead to seat with the tube in it. It’s one of those Tubolito tubes. They are supposed to be fairly durable. Indisputable a tire patch in the big puncture. Now, it just has to get me to Baker City tomorrow which is about 17 miles from here.