Another good luck, bad luck day yesterday...Tony and I were humming along northbound just north and west of Ririe. I heard and felt a tremendous pop along with a crunching sound. I was immediately on the rim in a cloud of vaporized sealant. Tony and I walked a few meters back where we found about half a dozen coarsely threaded two inch screws. One had punched all the way through my tire and rim.
Within a minute or two, a Jefferson County Sherriff's deputy stopped to offer assistance. I have had reasonably good success with emergency repairs and Tony can fix anything fixable. But the bike was clearly disabled and the prospects for a quick fix did not look promising. The deputy offered to drive me to the Madison County line and radioed ahead for a Madison deputy to pick me up there.
I owe the officers involved a tremendous debt of gratitude. (Most of my interactions with law enforcement start the same way. "I'm going to need to see your license and registration.") My biggest regret is that I did not internalize the Jefferson County deputy's name. I am thinking maybe Corporal Maltese, but that does not feel 100% correct. If someone knows the deputy and can correct or verify her name I will be happy to make a correction here.
Afterward, I dropped the wheel off with Joe for evaluation. I have not heard back from him yet, but I will be surprised if it is not a total loss.
