My Day of Many Flats

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Fixing a Flat

a recurring theme of the day

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

Manseki and I rode into the mountains of northwest Kyoto to check out some roads I found on the map that we'd never ridden, but
in trying to continue after a rest pause, I found my rear tire was flat. It must have been a slow leak of some sort.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
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Small Puncture

but big enough to cause a weak point for the next tube to fail

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Adding a Tire Boot and a New Tube

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

Once on our way, we came to the first road to check out, which starts here.

Like so many of Kyoto's rural roads, it was lovely.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.1, ISO 400 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
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Two Roads Diverged In a ....

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

We tried both. The one toward the left quickly became gravel so we abandoned it.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 58mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
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Checking Ahead

to see whether pavement returns any time soon

The other continued nicely...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Danger Zone

you wouldn't want to hit that gap at any speed








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

And then I got a flat on the front.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 250 —
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Sigh, This Again

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The road was in good condition, so we don't know what caused the puncture, but there was a hole in the tire similar
to the first one. It, too, would have to be replaced when I got home. For now, I could use a new tube and a tire boot to
protect the tube from the hole.

These “Vittoria Open Pave” tires were disappointing, since they were new just
2,690 km (1,670 mi) ago. I barely got three months of use from them.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 —
image data

During Better Days

One of the Vittoria Open Pave tires 2,690 km before I had to replace it









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The tires had gotten dirty from the sometimes-wet road, so I had the bright idea to wash them off in the river,
which was right there....

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
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Heading Down to Wash the Tire

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 —
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Manseki Gets All Artsy

with the composition

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

While working on the front tire, the mini bicycle pump I carry just stopped working. It was fine one minute,
seizing up and unpumpable the next. I would have been really stuck if Manseki hadn't been there... he gave it a go
with his pump...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Manseki to the Rescue

While he worked on that, I addressed a different problem I'd just noticed with the rear tire. When replacing
the tube earlier, I hadn't seated the bead fully in one spot, so to fix that I needed to let the air out and refill it.

Unfortunately, I ran into all kinds of trouble. First, his pump doesn't work well with removable-valve stems, which I find out
now is what I have. To have any hope, you've got to tighten the valve into the stem before attaching the pump, but apparently
these valves are made from wet tissue paper, because the first one got completely sheared off when we tried to unscrew the
pump...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/80 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Sheared Clean Off

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

This somehow caused the pump to become attached to the wheel... it took quite a while, and some leverage with a pair
pliers (that Manseki amazingly had) to overcome. Sigh. I cannibalized a valve from one of the old tubes.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Final Top-Off

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The body count: two tires, two tubes, an extra stem valve, and my tire pump. Then add to that our plans for the day:
with this run of luck, we decided it would be prudent to just turn around and go home, slowly and carefully.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Retracing Our Steps

it's still a lovely road








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
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Ryuta Mitsuhashi

stopped to chat when we came across each other as he headed out of town








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
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Returning To His Ride

Despite the cursed ride, I wasn't in a bad mood, and I was certainly thankful for Manseki's company,
skill, and tools.

But as un-bad as my mood was, it was made infinitely better when we came across a cyclist who looked a bit lost...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
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Offering Directions

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

It turns out that she wasn't lost, but she was visiting from overseas and didn't know the area,
so we told her a bit about the “Heart Loop” she was doing. (I wrote about
this popular 50km loop in northern Kyoto last year.)

She was dressed in Strava kit, so I knew she used Strava. We'd be able to see each other
on the Strava “fly-by” feature, which shows cyclists you passed on your route, so as we were leaving, I introduced myself so she'd know which one was me.

And here's where the “infinitely better mood” came in. Her face lit up and she said “I think I know you... it's your blog where I read about the Heart Loop”. It turns out she's following one of my recent activity tracks to lead her on
her ride today.

Manseki introduced himself as well, to which she responded “Yeah, I guess I've seen you on his blog before”.

That was a nice little ego boost.