Paul Asay

This past Saturday (6/14/08) I did the first annual Celina Challenge Trial Half Marathon or Full Marathon. Got talked into this by Joe and Jeff who are in a bit better shape than I am for long runs, but hey it sounded like a good adventure. Ah, it was! I ran the half (13.1 miles) along with Joe, and Jeff ran the full marathon (2 laps or 26.2 miles). They bill the event as not your mall parking lot 5k, and instead the toughest half marathon anywhere near Indiana. The day before we headed down to stay at a hunting lodge nearby provided by Joe's brother in-law Mark. Mark met us there, and despite a slight detour because of a house fire next door, we arrived safe and sound. It was really a nice place to sleep before the event. No electricity, but comfortable beds and good conversation before the race. Race morning we rolled out of bed around 6:30 am our time, 5:30 local time. Made the 20 minute or so drive to the Celina park in the Hoosier National Forest. The race filled with...

So my time trail (triathlon) bike was sitting in the garage looking lonely last night, so I decided to ride it in to work this morning instead of my new Scott CR1. Seemed like a reasonable thing to do. That is until I hit something sharp on the road on my way in to work at 6:30 am. Instant flat, not the kind that goes down slow either, the big bang and your on a wobbly front wheel kind. No big deal, to ride a bike you have to put up with a few flat tires now and again. So just last night I got my new Genuine Innovations Air Chuck SL and CO2 cartridge and swapped out the old one for the new one in my spare goodies bag under the seat. After a quick change of the tube on the front I pulled out the Air Chuck, screwed in the CO2 and pressed it on the valve stem. Nadda, nothing happens. I try to work the inflater, but it seems to stick. Finally it budges and instantly emptied the CO2 into the air, not my tire where it is so desperately needed. Ah, this is bad. No second CO2, no pum...