The Desert Expedition 2007
Saturday
Our plan was to start at the crack of Noon on Saturday. We had
discussed it over last night’s dinner and no one really wanted to get an
early start after Friday’s epic ride. Around 10 a.m. Uncle and I
stumbled from the dungeon we were sharing, in search of breakfast.
Paul had recommended a restaurant right around the corner from the motel so
that’s where we went. It turned out to be a excellent.
Breakfast with Jeff, Chris, Bill, & Uncle
After breakfast it was time to work on the bikes and then pack for the day’s
ride. I had originally planned a 200 mile loop running northwest
through canyon Alameda and then looping south and east back around to
Muzquiz. That idea was quickly nixed in lieu of a short ride.
Instead we were going to ride out to canyon Alameda and then make a u-turn
and head back to town. I figured it would take only 3-4 hours at most.
Even though we had said we wouldn’t leave till Noon, by 11 a.m. everyone was
finished working on their bikes so we left early.
Working on the bikes Saturday morning
We rode 17 kilometers north on Hwy 93, seeing sights in the daylight what we
had missed the night before. Unfortunately, just as we exited to the dirt
road leading to the canyon Bill pulled up short with a flat rear tire on his
KLR. He had picked up a nail. Thus began 7 hours of anguish and
dismay.
The first attempt at repair
The Bible has two kinds of stories – examples and warnings. The first
type of story, the example, is meant to illustrate what you should do, how
you should behave. The stories of Jesus, Moses, and John the Baptist
are example stories. The other type of story, the warning, is designed
to teach you what NOT to do. “Hey, don’t be one of these clods and do
what they did” the story teaches you. Well, the next part of my ride
report falls into the category of warning story. Don’t do what we did;
learn from our problems and challenges.
A nail flats the rear tire of Bill’s KLR. No problem, right?
Unfortunately, wrong. It was a huge problem. The problem stemmed
from the combination of a couple of things; first was that Bill was running
heavy duty tubes and second is that no one had a spare rear tube. We
had several spare front tubes but no rear tubes. We even had 2 patch
kits; just no spare rear tubes. The combination of these 2 issues
resulted in an unsolvable problem.
People use heavy duty tubes because they think they help prevent flats.
Well, a heavy duty tube helps prevent a pinch flat in rocky terrain, but it
isn’t any more puncture resistance to thorns, nails, screws, etc. than a
regular tube. The downside of a heavy duty tube, and this is very
important, is that it is very resistant to patching. Unfortunately, no one
in our group except me knew this and since I wasn’t riding a KLR I
completely forgot to tell anyone beforehand.
Maybe some of you guys can patch one, but I have yet to get a patch to stick
to a heavy duty tube and I’ve tried on 3 separate occasions. I have
always been able to get a patch to stick to a regular tube but never a heavy
duty tube. I’ve been told that the amount of silicon used to make a
heavy duty tube is such that patches just don’t bind to it. For
whatever reason, patches don’t stick well to a heavy duty tube.
But, since we didn’t have a spare rear tube, we patched the heavy duty tube
anyway. We pulled the tire for the first of 3 times that day and
patched it. After the glue dried we re-assembled everything, aired up
the tire and off we went. For 500 yards. The patch didn’t hold and the
tire was flat again.
So, we slimed it. No go. The slime wouldn’t seal it.
We pulled the tire a second time. Jeff had another brand of patch in
his tool kit so we tried them. This patch actually held for a about a
mile before it too fell off. The tire went flat again except this time
it not only went flat but the valve stem ripped off ending any other patch
attempts on this tube.
Hours passed during all that patching, airing, sliming, airing, re-patching,
etc.
Finally, in desperation we put in the spare front tube. I know, I
know, everyone says you can run a front tube in the rear tire as an
emergency. Well, it doesn’t work, at least not on a KLR. A 21
inch tube in a 17 inch tire is a no go. Sure, you can ride a little
ways – maybe a few miles or less – but you are going to ruin that 21 inch
tube and it’s going to go flat and, most likely, going to be unpatchable.
It has happened to me before. It happened to us today. Again, I
was the only one who knew you couldn’t run a 21 inch tube in a 17 inch wheel
but I forgot to mention it to anyone prior to leaving Texas.
Bill rode a short distance on the 21 inch tube and it popped. All this
time we had been on the unpaved road to the canyon so Bill limped his bike
back to the highway on the flat tire, arriving back at the pavement 5 hours
after the start of this ordeal.
The only solution was to go to town and try to find someone with a truck who
could haul Bill’s bike to Muzquiz. Scott and I took off for Muzquiz
while Jeff and Chris stayed with Bill.
Chris, Jeff, and Scott seeking shade during the 2nd tube change of the
day
End of the ride, defeated by a tube
As luck would have it right as we reached the hotel a fellow pulled in
delivering 2 new mattresses to the hotel with his truck. His name was
Gustavo and he owned a furniture store in town. And he spoke excellent
English. I explained the situation and he agreed to rescue Bill and bike.
While the immediate problem of getting Bill’s bike back to the hotel was now
solved, a bigger issue still remained. How do we get Bill’s bike back
to Texas? None of us had a rear tube for the KLR. There were no
bike shops in Muzquiz. The closest bike shop was back at the border.
Gustavo and I discussed it and he got on his cell phone and called a local
hardware store. As luck would have it they had an 18 inch tube for a
front tire. Maybe that would work, so he drove me over there and I purchased
it for Bill. Once that was done, Gustavo drove us out to where Bill
was located and we loaded his bike in the back of the truck. In short order,
Gustavo had us back and the hotel. It was a little after 6 p.m.
Please take today’s lessons to heart. Heavy duty tubes are not more
resistant to punctures than regular tubes but they are more resistant to
being patched. A front tube for a 21 inch tire won’t work in a 17 inch
tire. If you are going on an adventure, carry both a spare front and
rear tube and a patch kit.
We missed canyon Alameda today. When I come back here to ride the
trail we missed on Friday I’m gonna ride the road over to the canyon too.
Canyon Alameda beckoning us from a short distance
The road leading to the canyon was wonderful
We encountered Rancho La Vibora (and a locked gate) enroute to Canyon
Alameda
Saturday Night
