So I made my first attempt at an xterra this weekend. I always carry stuff to fix 2 flats on normal tris but I was too lazy/stupid to put a bad with a flat kit on my bike. 5 miles into the 13 mile ride rear tire went flat. In the middle of nowhere so i couldn’t just quit and wait for the sag vehilce. Was on an uphill so I ran my bike for a minute of so. Remembered that Lance won leadville on a flat (and other stuff) so decided to try riding. Tire didn’t come off so I kept going.
After a couple mile I came to the only aid station. Someone had a patch so I decided to give it a try. Long story, didn’t work. 9 minutes later I went back out on my flat and rode to the end. Amazingly I never crashed and the tire stayed on.
I was 23 minutes out of 2nd. (Winner was insane fast).14 minutes if you exclude the failed flat fix stop. Rode flat for 8 miles. Just curious to know how I would have done otherwise. I know it is unanswerable question, but how much time time did I lose? 1 minute per mile? Two?
Details- First 5 miles mostly uphill, last 8 (after flat) net 800 foot drop mostly downhill. Mixture of grass, gravel, dirt, road. FTP probably around 4 w/kg but I didn’t dare push that hard most of the time.
Welcome to XTERRA. I’m glad you had a good time and did so well despite the mechanical. I’ve been lucky enough to only flat in training during my XTERRA career. It’s really tough to say how much time you lost, but a conservative estimate is 20% of your normal speed.
I’d highly recommend running tubeless tires. It will save weight, eliminate pinch flats, and allow you to run lower tire pressure and thus gain more traction. I race with a can of Big Air and Genuine Innovations tire plugs to repair small punctures that Stans sealant won’t seal up.
Before I got tubeless compatible rims, I practiced changing tubes until it became second nature, and added sealant into the tubes to minimize flats.
I’m glad you didn’t crash racing a flat for 8 miles. I’d take your tire off, and carefully inspect the rim for damage. In fact, it’s probably best to take it to a shop to make sure it’s still rideable.
Best way to answer your question is to line up for another XTERRA!
Thanks for the response. Suprisingly the rim looks pretty good. I thought about the fact I migh be ruining my tire during the race, but they are the stock wheel and was intinding to get some different wheels anyways. Tubeless is also in my future.
This was my last race or the year and I wasn’t going to let the flat entirely ruin my day.
My opinion is that Xterra is awesome. Definately going to put few races in my schedule next year. People are awesome, at least half the people that passed me offered to help, but none of them had what I needed until it was way to late to bother anyway.