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ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So - I decided it was time to replace the flat on the Cannondale. This flat mysteriously appeared a week or so ago. Anyway, I removed the back wheel, pulled the tyre off with the help of only one tyre lever (yay me!), and set about picking out glass and other miscellany from the tyre. I inflated the tube but couldn't find the site of the puncture. So I let it sit, and sure enough it was deflated within half an hour or so. OK, so the tube is definitely punctured somewhere. I reinflated it and finally found the site of the puncture. I tracked it back to a chunk of glass in the tyre. Satisfied that all was well, I decided to install a new tube and get the wheel back onto the bike.

I replaced the tube, and set about getting the Gatorskin back on the rim. Sweet merciful crap, it's a bastard to get back on. I used my levers and my Koolstop tyre jack, and finally got the bloody thing back on. I squeezed the tyre all round, manipulating it to make sure the tube was definitely inside its borders and not jammed between it and the rim. Satisfied, I half-inflated the tube. I pushed, I prodded, I checked to make sure there was no pinching. All good. I inflated to full pressure. No exploding, no hissing, everything was great.

I spent the next HOUR AND A HALF trying to get the back wheel back into the flipping dropouts. I've never been good at this, but even for me, this is some kind of record. Seriously, an hour and a half. I swore. I cursed. I whinged. I jammed my fingers in the derailleur. I almost cried. But I persisted, and finally the axle was in the dropout, the chain was installed, and all was good. I tested the gears. They actually changed up and down as they're supposed to! Even better!

Then I turned the wheel and noticed an oddity. There seemed to be something of a flat spot on the tyre. I turned it some more. Yes, definitely something not right there. The tyre appeared mis-shapen. I'm sure it wasn't like that before, so it was probably something I did during all the fracking about with the tyre. Sigh. So I left the wheel in place, and deflated the tyre. I squeezed, I prodded, I inspected to make sure the tube wasn't bulging anywhere. I reinflated. It got to 20 PSI, then all the air came flying out of the tube, and that was it.

I'm assuming it's a pinch flat, but like hell I'm going to try to fix it right now. The bike, the tyre, the tube, the dropouts, the axle, the derailleur and everything else I've touched today can all go and get fucked.