July 4th, lil E & I set out on our own backdoor 'Firecracker 50' - rolled outta Alameda parking lot at 4:50am and....went straight up Hayden trail to Summit Loop, down Box o' Rox, up Zorro, across Dakota Ridge, through Red Rocks over to Mt Falcon. Up that S.O.B. then dropped the road to O'Fallon to Lair o' the Bear. Hopped on the road for about 2 miles & hung a left on Grapevine Rd, which led us to the top of Apex, through Enchanted/Apex, then over the top section of Dakota Ridge, down Zorro & finished up rounding the bottom of Green Mt, rolling to the cars 7 hrs after lift-off.
Pain, pure pain today. Last week's 3 Pass 55-miler, part of Spikefest '09, felt like a deathmarch at the time, but I wasn't hurting as much as I thought. Today's really did it to me. It may be b/c I tried to keep e's pace throughout the ride, except for where he left me days behind when he jammed non-stop up Mt Falcon bottom to top. Bravo, bro!! Had to wake him up from his slumber when I finally got there.
In the final 1/2 mile of the brutality, I hear a pop, kinda like someone cracking bubblegum. Noticed the tires were still holding air, so kept rolling. Then again, I hear it - a loud, weird sound. I put the bike on the rack to head home & notice a huge bubble in the center of the tread.
Stout #2 is dead. Not again!!
Guessing the casing snapped in these spots & the pressure is blowing it out. 10 rides (about 275 miles) & less than 3 weeks of use. I need a new rear tire, again.
This time, I ain't looking at WTB!
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