Looked Easy on the Internet

My back tyre has a few holes in it and I wanted to swap the tyre and also practice changing the inner tubes on both wheels in case I ever get a flat tyre. I've never changed a tyre on a racing bike before so I had to look it up on youtube how to do it.

It looked fairly easy. In hindsight the tyres they were using for examples on youtube must have been made of marshmallow, mine on the other hand seem to be made of concrete and barbed wire.

I found getting the tyre on and off the rim almost impossible. The tyre rim was very very tight over the wheel. So getting the first edge off to get the tube out and then get the last edge back on was really hard As a result I've overlevered my tyre levers to the extent that the plastic is weak and whitened. The guys on the internet get their's on and off using no more than fingernails and a big smile.

Its 3 hours since I started. I've burst one perfectly good tube by pinching the tube when I was levering the tyre back on and I subsequently found out through three trial and error repairs that its impossible(for me anyway) to fix a high pressure(8 bar) tube with a normal puncture repair outfit. So I had to bin the tube as the patches were being blown off after it was blown up.

However I've eventually now put the tyre on with a new tube(my last one). If both tyres stay up overnight then I'll do a long run in the morning as its a holiday here tomorrow and roads will be quiet. This will probably be my last big miler on the bike before the race.

I'll however be flying on no spare tube though as I don't have any left and the shops will be closed. I was as good as doing this without knowing anyway given my hamfisted efforts tonight.

My fingers are currently throbbing, like they have been scalded.

I fitted my new tri bars pretty easily with just 4 bolts, I just need to try them on a longer run before making any further adjustment over what felt ok when I sat on the bike.