Tülbag, meet toolbag

So here's what maybe kinda sucks about my Double Dare experience.

Around the campfire, the best idea I heard for fixing an extra large gash in a tire (if you don't have dental floss and a needle) was to cut out a nice piece of water bottle and use it for an ultra-tough boot. I've been carrying a knife as part of my emergency mountain kit for years, so this idea would have been totally doable, but as I would find out Sunday as I unpacked my gear, unnecessary.

You see, leading up to the race, I was torn between using my Camelbak Charge or my Camelbak Octane LR. With the OctaneLR, I would have three gel flasks at hand (one on the chest, two on the waist), but much less room for gear. I prefer wearing the Octane LR, and I had it loaded and ready to go right up until two days before the event. With the predicted temps getting lower and lower, I decided the capacity to carry extra clothes outweighed the convenience of eating, so I unloaded the Octane LR and moved everything over to the Charge. Obviously the Charge LR woulda been the best of both worlds, but whatever.

Well, maybe I didn't move everything over...

I noticed that I had originally packed a heavy multi-tool that I had been carrying around out west for my more complex squishy bike. I tossed it aside and replaced it with my Tülbag. It has only the bare essentials that I might need tool-wise.

The other factor involved in this equation was an experiment I'd been doing. Lately I've been riding around with a 5mm tucked in my Awesome Strap - Race, not in with the tube, but out near the plastic hardware. Since I have bolt-on skewers, this puts everything I need in my hands immediately when I get a flat.

So, I tear a sidewall, pull off my Awesome Strap - Race, dig around for some booting materials (Gorilla tape and a powerfood wrapper), and never remember that I had my Tülbag with me the whole time.

Why does that matter?

Here are the standard contents of the Tülbag... at least what matters.

Yes, my custom made, never used before MAXXIS tire boot. I had it the whole freaking time, but I never remembered it since I had everything I needed for a flat under my saddle . Meh.

Would it have worked? I had to know.

Even though the tear was widened from my original fix and subsequent goitering, there was absolutely NO GOITERING going on now. It was, and woulda been, a solid fix.

The tire is now garbage, but a lesson has been learned.

Maybe even two lessons were learned...

Risky business indeed.