Fixing my first flat... on my own!

While riding Pixie on Sunday I distinctly remember hitting a rather large rock with the side of my front tire. It jarred me enough that both Sondra and I said, "geesh... could have crashed on that one." Well, I guess that lovely rock produced a slow leak because when I went to fool around with my new Koobi saddle this afternoon, I noticed that Pixie's front tire was completely flat.

Problem: Husband is on-shift and therefore, not at home to fix this flat for me (or even guide me).
Solution: He's showed me no less than 5 times how to change out a tube. I can do this! At least I think I can...

So, armed with a new 650 tube, tire spoons and a bit of courage I removed Pixie's front wheel and went to work.

1. Remove tire and old tube- check! I tried to remember how Scott taught me to use the tire spoons. I'm sure I need some finesse on this part, but it came off fairly easily.

2. Check tire for any punctures, etc- check! I ran my fingers around the inside and felt nothing. Looked closely at the outside and saw nothing.

3. Slightly inflated new 650 tube, made sure everything was going in the right direction and began to work the tube & tire back on to the rim. I had a dandy of a time trying to get everything back on. After giving it an 'A' effort for at least 10 minutes or more, I made a frantic call to Scott at work to ask him "why the tire wouldn't go back on" and to let him know that the tire seemed "too large" for the rim! LOL! He 'tried' to help me from afar, but alas...

At this point I need to thank Rachel. THANK YOU for your diagram/instructions on how to fix a flat. Your method of getting the tire back on was slightly different than how my husband showed me. I remembered your post after my first failed attempt + frantic phone call to my hubby and came inside to look at your directions. So, with a little patience and some muscle on my part (and very little use of the tire spoons), the tire popped back on!

4. Once the tire was back on and the bead 'appeared' to be seated properly, I installed it back on the bike and added some air. I gave the wheel a spin to make sure that it wasn't doing anything weird like rubbing or wobbling; although I wasn't sure if I would be able to notice a wobble anyway. It all looked good to my amateur eyes, so I continued to inflate to full pressure. The valve stem looked nice and straight (no weird angles) and the wheel rotated freely.

Current feeling: Ultra accomplished

I shouldn't even tell you how long it took me to change this tire; however, because I know that there are other folks out there like me who have never done this 'alone' in their life yet, I shall. My official tire change time was right around 45 minutes... just 18 minutes shy of the time it took me to complete my first sprint triathlon! Now, had this been a rear wheel... which would mean dealing with the chain set... I would bet money that my tire change time would have been slower than that sprint tri time! LOL!

Hopefully when I return to the garage later tonight or tomorrow, my efforts will not be rewarded with a flat that I caused during my inaugural tire change. Keeping fingers crossed.