Dad took the day off today to go for a bike ride. He had intended to do more than just ride, but it ended up being longer than anticipated.
The front tire was flat when starting, and had been leaking air around the valve stem. First up was the Big Water trail to Dog Lake. The front tire went flat about 2/3 of the way there, but with legs feeling fresh and insufficiently worked, and no fear of spending extra time in the canyon walking the bike down, Dad put half of a CO2 cartridge in the tire and kept going. Great views at Dog Lake were encouraging, though the enormous number of flies was a damper.
The tire went flat again just after leaving Dog Lake, heading back down, and in went the rest of the CO2. In a fit of either determination or stupidity, Dad turned right instead of heading for the parking lot and started up the Great Western Trail. A rider was on the side of the trail about a mile in, pumping up a tire following a flat, with a hand pump. Dad was able to borrow the pump and get a little more air into his front tire, hoping that would be enough to carry the day.
A couple of hours later, after lunch on the trail, fabulous views of Park City and Lake Desolation, and passing by Dog Lake (again), the tire was still inflated when reaching the car. Amazing! This leak around the base of the valve stem has been very persistent, but needs to be re-examined. Total ride time was from around 11 AM to 3 PM. Much fun, and much soreness afterward!