Flat tires in the Desert

Wednesday we parked at the Mo Udall park and rode out to Saguaro National Monument East. It's one of my favorite places on the planet. The park has an eight mile loop with nice pavement and stunning scenery. We went with a couple of fellow campers from Winnipeg who are just a delight to ride with. It was a very enjoyable day.


Riding in the desert can be such a pain. The tires that came on my bike are wire bead and they are very difficult to get on and off. So we decided to get folders since it's becoming apparent that many tire changes will be in our future. We ordered tires, picked them up at Arizona Cyclist this morning, and changed my 2 flats in their parking lot. I told Jim we were being shade tree mechanics. Anyway, we're trying a new tube. These have sealant in them, the guy in the store said the goo clots like blood when the tube is punctured. I certainly hope so.

These are my new tires, they're wider and taller than the old ones. I have been told that wider is better, so we went wider. I rode them briefly today and I think they're going to be better on the sticky uppy rocks. The jury is still out on how well they steer.


After changing my two flats at the store, we drove out to Fantasy Island and Jim promptly flatted within 5 minutes. He was very aggravated, changing tires is the pits.


Here is Jim, changing flat number 3 for the day.

We did eventually get a ride off. It's supposed to rain Saturday, which will put the area off limits for a while, too much MUD!

Our weather perfection ends tomorrow, rain and wind is anticipated, possibly with HAIL! Apparently we will be visited by 3 storms moving across the state. Monday we're taking the RV in to Beaudry for kitchen gray tank number 4. Tuesday we revisit the welder. Such excitement awaits us. I hope we remember how to hitch and un-hitch, it's been awhile since we've done it. We need to get this stuff taken care of, our departure date will be here before we know it. Every year we wonder if we're staying too long, and every year we're startled when the season ends.