Tire Treads

Treads are awfully important. Riding with a full complement is generally preferred to riding on a tire looking, say, like this one...



Another view:



Recognize the bike?

Pics are from a ride today from various points in SC & NC that converged in Lake Lure and headed to Black Mountain for lunch. Izzy loves BBQ and this place is worth crossing state lines.

Izzy was taking the bike through serious twisties on NC 9 when he first noticed a wobble in the front end at low speeds. He suspected a loose bearing, never guessing we'd lost half of the tire's tread on the ride between Lake Lure and Black Mountain.

He discovered the problem at the end of lunch, where, fortuitously, the discussion had centered around the merits of various brands and styles of tires. The sort of conversation one should be having right before one discovers that one needs to purchase a new tire.

Camaraderie and chivalry still live: I was placed on another bike and we all rode to south Asheville to a bike shop, from which, just under two hours later, we rode off with a new tire. The group changed their ride route ("we don't leave anyone behind") and tonight they are emailing pics of the tire that various ones took.

Ask Izzy, when you see him (and I'll bet this trip ends up on his blog) about the brisket he had for lunch. That was the reason for the trip, and not a bad 2nd or 3rd most interesting memory of the day.



More photos from today's 400 mile ride on Flickr (starts near the bottom of this page.)

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Update: Izzy's great description of the day.