My favorite race in the Swedish Marathon Cup (Långloppscupen), Billingeracet, became a short affair: I noticed that my rear tire was a bit wobbly some 20 minutes into the race. I stop and have a look and there's a long nail sticking straight through my tire. It's gone in at the thread and out just above the rim. About 5 centimeters is sticking out each end. I pulled it out and tried to get the tubeless fluid to plug the hole while spending to CO2 cartridges trying to inflate the tire. No go! It just leaked out. I'm trying out Muck Off's tubeless fluid this year for the first time. It's supposed to plug bigger holes than its competitors. I'm not sure if this was a fair test though as the hole was really big. See photos below.
I was pretty disappointed but after a while I did try to get a tube in the tire and inflate it using the last CO2 cartridge that I had with me. But somehow the inflator or/and tube valve failed and all the CO2 went by the side. At that point I decided to give up. I went back to the car, inflated to tire using my big pump, took the bike into central Skövde and found a chocolate shop where I could buy some fancy pralines.
I rode back to the start/finish area and enjoyed my pralines while looking at my pals riding the race.
Sandra did great and finished 4th in Women Elite.
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| Not me in the podium but Sandra in fourth place |
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| Top one is where the nail went in and bottom where it was sticking out |
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| Nail went in here |
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| Nail went out here |
