Today's minor setback

When I go out to the garage to get my bicycle for a ride I do so because I am ready to ride. Today I rode down the driveway for my customary couple of laps of the cul de sac. Shortly after hitting the street I says to myself, "Self, that feels like a flat tire." I have been worried about the tires that came with the new LOOK and today that worry was justified. I had only 636 miles on the new bike. That is much too early for a flat tire. I got it off, and in keeping with correct flat tire procedures, did a thorough examination of the tire to see if I could determine what had caused the flat. A complete inspection of the exterior convinced me that the tire is actually in OK condition and can go back on the bike. A complete examination of the intereior of the tire didn't turn up anything sharp so I repaired the tire and remounted it on the LOOK.

Well, it was a minor setback but it was also a revelation. The Vredestein (Vredestein is a Dutch company) tires and the Mavic rim combination of the new LOOK were like about 100 times easier to change than the Michelin tires Campagnolo rims combination that I have been palping (or is that curating? Only BikeSnobNYC knows for sure). Michelin on Campagnolo was an extremely tight fit and a major struggle to change, particularly with new tires.

Here is an illustration of the difference: The levers on the left are what most people find adequate for changing bicycle tires.I have had to use those heavy duty metal levers and that telescoping bead remover to get the tires off. Back on is even more of a struggle, I need that bead jack to lift the final bit of tire over the rim and back on. Today was much, much easier. If you can believe it, as the repair books describe and as I have definitely NOT been able to do, today I PUSHED THE LAST BIT OF BEAD OVER THE RIM WITH MY THUMBS!!!

I went out for a ride but by this time the weather was extremely threatening. I wanted to ride at least a few miles to confirm a successful tire repair so I started circling the neighborhood, staying close to home.

It didn't rain so I circled some more. I feel sheepish when I end up riding more than once on any particular street and I soon ran out of streets I could ride in section 16, my one mile square geographic home. Eventually I dared to expand my range to the section to the east, give me a second here, I am going to have to count this off in my head: 1,2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 . . . ah, section 15. Section 15 is bordered by Snelling, County Road B, Lexington and Larpenteur. Eventually I was running a little low on streets in that area too so I headed off towards the west of the section south of 15 and then down into the one directly to my south: 17, 18, 19, 20 . . . section 21. That would be the west half of section 22 and all of section 21. Is this arcane knowledge ever, ever going to be of actual use to me again? Section 21 is bordered by Larpenteur, Snelling, Como and Cleveland. The area between Snelling and Hamline and between Como and Larpenteur is the west half of section 22.

Section 21 is occupied almost entirely but not quite totally by the Fairgrounds and the farm campus. I was riding through the Fairgrounds when I had one of those learning moments. When you learn something new you are supposed to reinforce the learning by repeating the new knowledge. Well, the car show and swap meet scheduled for this weekend at the Fair is going to charge admission. Since they don't have use of the full grounds they have rented a fence.While I was in section 15 I got a picture of today's old stone church, Roseville Lutheran. Grey looking day, isn't it.Roseville Lutheran is really old. It is so old that it is listed on the Roseville Heritage Trail as sponsored by the Roseville Historical Society. This church was kind enough during construction to include a corner stone with the date, I believe we can safely assume that this building was erected in 1948. That's really old for Roseville as 1948 is the year Roseville came into existence, incorporating the existing Rose Township into a village.

It is really old for Roseville but it isn't anywhere near as old as this one:
That's the Eglise de Notre Dame in Cunault. Cunault is a very tiny town in Western France, on the Loire river, near Nantes. The church dates from the 12th century. It includes that tower which is a surviving remnant of the former church on that site. The tower was built during the 11th century.

It was also a very grey day in Cunault the day this picture was day.