[CR]Tubulars in Bubbaville

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

From: "Mark Poore" <rauler47@hotmail.com>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 22:39:27 -0400
Subject: [CR]Tubulars in Bubbaville

Someone mentioned something about all the chat about Real whatever vs. American forgeries so I felt compelled, after what happened on my ride today, to give ya all some relief from all that.

Two friends and myself went out on a ride that started out to be our 37-mile loop. Mike has a very light Giant with Dura Ace and the best Mavic has to offer in wheel sets and a saddle that has the shape of a small buzzard’s wing that I wouldn't set my butt on if it were on fire. I keep telling him if he wants to have that bike in 20 years he better quit riding it now. Now just the other day when Mike and I went out on a ride and I asked him if he was a gambler? No he said, and then I asked him why he didn’t have a spare tube and pump? He said he hadn’t gotten one yet. Mind you that this isn’t his first rodeo. I told him he better start bringing one on our rides or I won’t be riding with him. The other fellow Dave, who mountain bikes a good bit, had his dad’s Jamis Quest. It is out fitted with 105 and no spare tube or pump. That was his first warning.

Now the vintage part; I was on my Tommasini (it is a real whatever vs. American forgery), although it doesn’t meet the time line there is a page on CR about ‘em so I guess it is acceptable. It has tubulars (real whatevers vs. American or even British forgeries) which fits into my mind as vintage as there weren’t clinchers back in the days when I started cycling that were acceptable to race on or for that matter do any high performance fast riding.

Now we were into mile 22 coming into Bubbaville on a single lane road miles from the closest pay phone and Mike blows a rear tire. After giving him a bit of grief about not having anything to fix it with we laid out our plan which was for Dave and I to ride back to the cars, about12 miles away, and come back and get him. I just couldn’t resist telling him as Dave and I started to ride off how Bubba liked young boys in lycra. About a half a dozen pedal strokes away I wondered if my spare tubular would fit on his clincher rim? Only one-way to find out, so I turned around. After pulling his tire and tube off the tubular fit snugly enough on the rim that I believed it could get him back to the car. Right then I could see a problem and that was the valve stem didn’t come through enough to get the Campagnolo pump end on it, another vintage moment. I pulled the tire off and thought if I could get enough air in the tire and we could wrestle it back on the rim maybe, just maybe Mike could ride home. After three different inflations all three of us were able to pry the tire onto the rim.

The ride from there back to the cars was without incident.

And now I know that a tubular will fit a clincher rim in a pinch. And that is a real story and not an American tale.

Mark Poore Living 23 miles from Bubbaville, West Virginia