Preparing for your first cycle event

Having recently completed the Cotswold Classic Sportive 2023 short(59km), I decided to share my experiences on how the event went, and how it could have gone better, so I can improve on my next event.

What went well

I had all the essential gear for the event:

I had done some training to prepare for the event.

What did not go well:

I had 2 punctures.

What could have been done better

Although I had all the gear I needed for the event, I should have practiced how to change inner tubes (front and back) using the gear that I had with me. The mistake I made was not having experience using the puncture repair kit, mini pump and not having experience changing the inner tube.

I did manage to figure out how to change the inner tube, but it took much longer than it should have, due to lack of experience.

How to change a bicycle inner tube

  1. Remove the wheel
    1. Undo the brakes
    2. Undo the wheel quick release
      1. Front wheel
        1. Unwind the quick release slightly, so that it clears the safety tabs at the bottom of the forks
      2. Back wheel
        1. Shift the chain into the smallest sprocket at the back
        2. Pull the derailer back out of the way, so that the sprokect clears the jockey wheels when it drops out
  2. Take you tyre levers
    1. At the opposite end of the wheel from the valve, you need to insert the first one underneath the bead of the tire (the bit that sits inside the rim)
    2. Take the second tire lever and insert it under the bead of the tire, about 12cm further down the rim
    3. Lever the first one, then lever the second one, the bead of the tire should pop over the edge of the rim
    4. It should also free up enough slack in the tire now that you can pull the rest of it off, with the heel of your hand
  3. Remove the damaged inner tube
    1. Pull the valve out of the rim, if there is a lock ring that holds your valve in place in the rim, you need to remove this first
    2. Take the tube out
  4. Check the inside of the tyre for any foreign objects that might have caused your puncture, thorns or glass or anything like that
  5. New inner tube
    1. Remove the dust cap
    2. Remove the lock ring
    3. Partially inflate the inner tube, just so that it holds it's shape
    4. Take the valve of the tube and insert it through the valve hole in the rim, and then tuck the rest of the tube back into the well of the rim.
  6. Re-fit the tyre
    1. Tuck the bead inside the rim
    2. Take the last bit of bead and insert your tyre lever very carefully underneath it, and then lever it, so that the tyre just pops back inside the rim, you might need multiple tyre levers for this section. Make sure the inner tube isn't caught and picnhed by the tyre lever before applying any pressure.
  7. Make sure that the tyre is fully seated on the rim and there are no bits of inner tube sticking out, otherwise it could burst when re-inflated.
  8. Put the wheel back in the frame. if it is the back wheel, pull the derailer towards the back of the bike, just so it can clear the sprokets and the back wheel seats properly.
  9. Put brakes back on.