Ashes going bare

This might not qualify as a bicycling post but I think it does. It rained last night and the streets are quite wet. The sun is out and while it is possible that I will get in a few miles later, for right now the bicycling activity to be blogged is bicycle maintenance.

I didn't ride yesterday, we went to a hockey game (Minnesota 5, Northeastern 3). So I have not ridden since discovering the flat tire on the LOOK. My plan was to pop up early today and get the tire fixed in time for a possible morning ride. However, see above comment about wetness.

Still, about 11:30 I got out into the garage and started wrestling with the rim and tire. Usually when I have a flat I have some recollection of not seeing the broken glass in time and having ridden through the shards. I didn't have that this time but still assumed that glass was the culprit. I got the tire off and the tube out and started to follow the usual procedure of pumping a little air into the tube to find the hole and therefore find the debris in the tire. Well the tube would not hold any air at all. Okay, I could still check the tire itself, it would just be harder to find the debris. I started running my finger around inside the tire and found the problems in relatively short order. I had three, yes three, small pieces of wire sticking through the tire. None of them were in the contact zone, tire to road, all were somewhat up the sidewall, including one almost all the way up to where the sidewall would be contacting with the rim. Well, I have absolutely no recollection of riding through anything that could have caused that. No construction zone, no industrial waste site, nothing of the kind. But at least they all came out without great difficulty and the tire went back on much more easily than it did when it was new and stiffer. On the road again.

The photo is of the ash tree in our front yard. Fall is falling here, the ash tree has dropped a majority of its leaves. Those trees visible in the back yard are ash behind the front ash, yellow colored ash in the neighbors yard off to the left and neighbors cottonwood still pretty green in the middle. We also have a large cottonwood and those things go after the ashes but not by a heck of a lot, they will be turning soon. In a short time the trees will be bare.

Le Havre won their game on Friday night, once again at least temporarily assuming first place in Ligue 2. Nantes without playing a game continues to lead the 4th placed team by 5, still comfortably in the promotion zone.