JeffOYB

I have a pair of sweet handmade Challenge Grifos that have lost all their sidewall coating. So when they're flat the sidewalls are a mass of loose threads! I recently tried coating them with latex and thought that was likely a cute fix. But I didn't check that it'd worked. They dried and looked good so I just started using them again. Doh!

So, I did a race last weekend with these tires, which ended as another comedy of errors -- I was LEADING but I listened to finish-line hecklers who told me "last lap" when there were 2 to go. So I finished strong then stopped and others told me to keep riding but I was confused and it took me awhile to get re-psyched to re-enter the pain cave -- and 2 guys passed me. Doh! ...Anyway, afterward we go to put the bikes away and I notice that I have a beautiful condom-thin inner tube bulging out from my rear sidewall! Dang, I'm lucky it didn't explode!

I still finished 3rd which was nice, and got nice swag. But 1st got a supersweet trophy. Argh. I haven't ever won a CX race! It was just a "fun race" but 4s/5s still had 30 riders. Well, it goes to show ya that ya gotta keep your wits about you in CX. I was so far into hammer-mode that I actually had ZERO idea I was in the lead. So that was my other big mistake. I thought my finish screwup had bumped me from maybe 4th to 7th. I thought the leaders were out of sight ahead of us. Doh! ...So keep track of where you are, people! I'm new enuf at this that I basically don't deserve to win yet since clearly I don't have all the skills: riding is just one of them. THINKING is another!

A continuation of the comedy is that I didn't even know I'd been leading until the awards ceremony. People had said I was doing good but, hey, everyone who keeps riding in CX is doing good! The organizer had apologized earlier and I was all fine about it, but when I realized as I got on the podium that I'd been leading -- ha! Well, I was still fine about it. Yes, the joke is on me.

(The guy behind me was also fooled by the wicked hecklers. They had commandeered the finish area when the organizer stepped away. Still, they'd also done it earlier so we shoulda known better!)

Anyway, I was running quite low pressure for the conditions -- part of our course was on an old velodrome and my rear was smearing down to the rim on the banked concrete.

I'm now thinking of either resealing the sidewalls again with latex and maybe doing two coats, or maybe I'll try Shoe-Goo or other flexible sealant. I guess I'll start with the latex and this time I'll TEST the result.

bdcheung

Those hecklers sound like ********.

Black wallnut 

I think hecklers like that should be shown the exit gates. Lowlifes!

JeffOYB

Yeah, it was pretty rotten, but who knows since timing wasn't working and the finish area was kind of chaotic maybe they really didn't know but were excited and blabbing anyway. There was a keg in a nearby truck... But I should've known or asked somehow. Oh well!