Grant raced both the 10am and the noon lil' Belgian's events at the 2011 DCCXwith many laps in between
I pumped up the tires the night prior... they seemed to hold air then
then at the start of the noon lil' Belgian's event Grant asked for air in his front tire
I rushed for a pump
returned only to find that his front tire would not take air
I am guessing it is a stem broken from the tube
not repairable with a patch
that is my guesstimation based on the inability of the tube to HOLD ANY AIR
a puncture could hold some air
while a slow leak can often appear to be fine and lose air over time
it seemed rational to me for Grant to grab his geared 24 inch wheel mountain bike
but not for Grant... Grant refused and Grant argued (politely)
Grant opted for the lighter bicycle... even with the flat in the front
this did not seem rational or safe to me
I argued until Grant told me that the tire had been flat all day
even for the 10am race
I thought about how the pro cyclocross racers race with 10 pounds of air in their tires and figured he would be fine
fingers crossed... it was fine
photos from that to come later
those images are on a different CF Card