The long saga is over. Today I was able to replace the tubes and tires on my Lemond and then I took to the mean streets of Beaverton for my first bike ride in a week. The weather today is awesome, 63 degrees and a slight breeze. Traffic was deadly as usual. But it felt so good to be riding again that I won’t dwell on all of the terrible drivers on the road today.

Now regarding my previous woes and flat tires.  Observe the photograph below and you will see that when I tried to patch the original hole in my tube it blew out the patch.  What I thought was just a small puncture was actually a 1/8th inch tear on the inner surface of the tube that had originally escaped my attention.

Another side note.  Due to my work schedule I was unable to make it to the bike shop until this morning.  I went to Performance Bike here in Beaverton and picked up two pre-slimed tubes.  I got home and replaced both the front and rear tires and the tubes on my 2008 Lemond Fillmore.  Everything was going smooth until I began to inflate the rear tube.  It was then I noticed that the valve stem was cracked, right out of the box.  So I had to stop, go back to Performance Bike and swap the defective tube for another.  Kind of a pain considering every I had dealt with up to that point.  In the end I was able to get the Lemmy back on the road.

And here we are, back in the saddle again!