Leadville, Tour of Utah, Saved Again by Tubeless

     Congratulations to Bart Miller for a fine ride at Leadville.  When the dust settles, you should be able to read about it on his blog. http://cyclingstrong.com/blog-2/

     John and I had a great trip to the Tour of Utah and the Ultimate Challenge.  I will try to post something about that in the next couple of days.  In the meantime, here is one story from the Ultimate Challenge.  Last year at the bike BBQ, I received the gift of a lifetime; an American Classic Road Tubeless Wheelset.  http://www.amclassic.com/en/products/road-wheels/road-tubeless  Barely a week later, I rode unscathed through what was apparently a deliberate attempt to sabotage the riders’ tires at Lotoja.  At the Ultimate Challenge, I was in a group of a hundred riders or so just east of Park City.  We were on a gentle downhill curving left probably at about 28 mph.  I was on the inside next to the guardrail.  Without any warning, the rider in front of me hit something so hard it nearly knocked him of his bike.  I called out a warning to the people behind me, but had no way to avoid hitting a large object in the road.  It turned out to be a dead porcupine.  I looked down and my tires were bristling with porcupine quills.  For a moment, I considered stopping, but I realized that I needed to rely on the sealant (Stan’s No Tubes) to protect me from any quills had had penetrated the tire.  I continued without any noticeable loss of tire pressure.  The only real souvenir I have of my encounter with the porcupine is some fairly deep scratches on the inside of my fork.