Client with a customized version of Vans-a-go-go mobile.
On Saturday, I got a rear flat. A thorn or piece of glass. Maybe a small nail.
@orangesealed sealant everywhere, the spray catching the light, a geyser at dawn.
Even after all these years of riding, I don’t have a lot practice plugging flats. And it makes me really nervous.
Making a bigger hole in a tire to fix a smaller hole, well, it’s hard to wrap my head around.
But, pulling out my @blackburndesign mini tubeless repair tool, that’s exactly what I did. I jabbed that tool directly into the hole, deep into the belly of the tire, pulled it out, and…
No more bubbling sealant. No more leaking air. The hole, er, no longer a hole.
On Sunday, I got another flat. Same tire, different spot. Side of the road. Heart racing. Nervous all over again.
One jab. Still bubbling.
Two plugs. Still bubbling (and called Ara to let her know I might need a pickup).
Three jabs, three plugs – and a little prayer to our lady of ghisallo – and voila, 20+ miles later, I rolled into the driveway on a twice-plugged tire.
As I was pedaling home, I kept thinking about how often we try to address our problems, like holes in a tire, like a corrupt administration, like pain and suffering, with same-sized solutions; when really what’s needed are outsized solutions, solutions that are bigger than, different from, the problem itself.
And how often do we think one solution is enough? I put in one plug. I voted. I tried. When really we’re asked to plug, and plug, and plug. And to accept that, in tires and in life, new holes will happen. It’s a sign that we’re alive, we’re moving, we’re bumping up against the world and it’s bumping up against us. This is a good thing.
Yesterday, I was relieved to get home. More confident that, I’ll be able to fix the next flat, and grateful for Ara who was ready to come get me and for my coach @emmamaraanen who reminded me, “It’s good to practice in-the-field flats, so it’s not so stressful in a race/ time crunched/ miserable weather” – which is the perfect metaphor for preparedness in life.
Here’s to finding outsized solutions to any challenge you may face today!
(And, no, that's not me in the photo; it's a client with another Vans-a-go-go mobile).