I found this funny note over at the Web site for Found Magazine. Sometimes people take bike parking just a tad too seriously.
About a week and a half ago, a Wednesday, I headed out to the shed to get my bike at 5:50 a.m. and discovered a flat-flat-flat as a pancake tire. Alas. I could have ridden the spare bike but it has been neglected and the tire pressure was low and I walked back into the house and had Brian give me a ride to the bus stop. In short: I was a quitter.
I replaced the tube Wednesday night. I carefully examined the tire to try to find the offending thing that caused the flat but couldn’t find anything. The hole was a little puncture on the outside of the tube… so, nothing to do with the wheel. I decided the offending ‘thing’ must be gone, reassembled everything, and re inflated the tire. I was feeling pretty good about my improved flat fixing skills.
I rode to work and home on Thursday with no problems. All was well. I had Friday off and didn’t end up riding the bike at all over the weekend.
Monday morning I went out to to the shed, got my bike. I made it to the stop well before the bus (mostly because it was 20 minutes late due to mechanical difficulties). When it arrived I discovered that my tire had gone completely flat while I was waiting. I was glad I would at least get to work in time, threw my bike on the rack and figured I would sort things out sometime during the day.
Have I mentioned that I never figured out how my little portable air pump worked? I’ve had it for at least a year, but I just bought it, tossed the instructions and carried it with me all the time, more as a talisman than a tool. When I got off the bus I decided I’d try to inflate the tire a bit. That would make walking the bike the half mile to my office a little easier. I could not get the thing to latch on to the valve stem. Basically, the pump could work one of two ways. Method A did not work so I tried method A again, and again, and again. And gave up. Clearly, I’m gifted.
So I walked the bike to my office, leaned it against the rack and dug out my lock, only to discover that I had left the key at home. You see, normally I have routine, a system. I follow it carefully because my brain doesn’t start working until well after I have to leave the house in the morning. If I don’t follow the routine, I end up at work without my bike lock key, or my office key, or my work clothes. I had broken the routine the last time I rode and would have to pay for it now. I found a spot in the storage room in my office to stash the bike for the day.
I decided to try the air pump again on my lunch break. They wouldn’t sell pretend air pumps that don’t actually do anything. There must be a solution. Suddenly method B occurred to me. Success. The tire was full of air that was quickly trying to get out of the tire. Now I could see where it was coming from so I knew that when I got home I would be able to find the offending ‘thing’ that had taken 2 tubes already. I decided not to try to patch it at work since it would probably just happen again if I didn’t take the time to do it right.
Hopped a couple of buses to get home dragging my injured bike with me. I didn’t feel like going to the store and so I patched the tube (using some peel and stick patch that I happened to have) and found the tiny piece of glass that was embedded in the tire. I had to use tweezers to pull it out because it was stuck in there solidly. It was embedded so solidly that I half thought that I was really just tearing out something that was supposed to be part of the tire.
When I went out to the shed on Tuesday morning the tire was flat AGAIN. Yes I know it was because I used that crappy peel and stick patch. Yes I will go buy a real patch kit and a whole case of spare tubes. But there I was…
I was tired of getting rides to and from the bus stop. I just wanted to be moving under my own power. I hauled out the spare junk bike. Ran to the air compressor, pumped up the tires, and left almost 10 minutes late. It made horrible noises and then even more horrible noises. The brakes sounded like a penguin getting eaten by an elephant seal. The shifters kinda work in certain gear combinations some of the time. Then in the middle of town the whole bike started vibrating like we were going well above warp 8 and the whole ship was going to tear apart. It took me a couple of starts and stops to figure out that the front reflector was sticking out on this strange metal appendage that was screwed to the bike just above the front wheel. Somehow it had gotten bent down and was dragging across the knobby mountain bike tires. I fixed this and kept powering toward the bus stop. Somehow I made it in time. Just…
The next day I still hadn’t had time to fix the flat on my regular bike so I rode the junk bike again. Everything went smoothly until I walked to the bike rack after work and discovered that now even the junk bike had a flat. I really started thinking that I might have a nemisis that was doing this to me on purpose. It was on the rear wheel which doesn’t have a quick release. I didn’t have a wrench or a spare tube anyway. So I just walked it to the park and ride. I fixed the tubes on the good bike when I got home and haven’t even looked at the junk bike again.
The up side of this is that I can fix a flat tire pretty quickly now. I’m not saying I can fix it right. I guess if I’d gotten it right the first or the second time this post would be a lot shorter. We’ll see whether I learned anything later this week. If the new tube doesn’t go flat I will feel successful. Meanwhile, I am starting to consider the merits of spending a little extra for a flat resistant tire. They do make those don’t they?
June 26 is the last Friday of the month, which means that Critical Mass is happening all over the world. If you’re in Rochester, meet us at 6pm at the Liberty Pole.
Here’s a video I made of the March ride (I try to make one of these every year):
Hello friends,
Cancer has impacted:
So it’s no surprise that I’d want to fight cancer. And I love riding my bike. That’s why I signed up for the Livestrong Challenge ride in Philly on August 23 as part of Team Fat Cyclist.
Now I need YOUR help. Please visit my fundraising page and donate whatever you can to help me in the fight against cancer. And if you can make it to Philly on August 23, you should also consider signing up for the race yourself.
Elden “Fatty” Nelsen has posted some great photos, videos and stories from this weekend’s Livestrong ride in Seattle. Please visit his blog to read about the weekend. And make sure to donate to the cause, OK?
WIN SUSAN!
There seems to be a lot of hostility in bike blogs these days. Everyone has an opinion about wearing helmets (or not), vehicular cycling (or not), bike trails (or not), and so much more. Having an opinion is a great thing; forcing it down others’ throats with vitriol is not.
I just have 2 things to say about all this. First, cycling is not an individual act; it is inherently social, simply by the fact that other people are using the trails/roads/sidewalks. I am both a driver and a cyclist. When a cyclist is biking erratically or is not visible in the dark, it affects me as a driver, by increasing my stress level as I am driving and trying to be safe. Further, if I were to hit that cyclist, it’s not just the cyclist who would be affected. I would be emotionally devastated. Our health care system would take another hit. My loved ones as well as the cyclist’s would be impacted. Insurance costs would go up. So, yes, individuals have the freedom to make choices about how they want to bike. But that freedom does not exist in a vacuum.
Second, could we be a little nicer to each other and to those with whom we share the transportation infrastructure? There’s a great post at EcoVelo to this point.
Read the comments too, where you’ll find, among others, this gem from the post’s author:
“The idea that acting courteously as opposed to confrontationally is somehow going to put us on a slippery slope leading to “laws demanding that all cyclists get out of their way” is a fallacy that has been used all too frequently to justify rude, aggressive riding tactics. What’s going to get us kicked off the roads is disregarding traffic laws, riding irresponsibly, and treating other road users as if we bicyclists operate under our own set of rules (see it too often). You are right, the car is “almighty”, but fighting its supremacy with a head-on frontal assault is not the answer in my opinion. I believe we need to build good will with the general public and politicians to gain the political capital necessary to instigate the infrastructure and policy changes that would make our roads (and trails) more attractive to new bicyclists, thus growing bicycling to the extent we’re all hoping for. In my opinion, the “us versus them” mentality is counterproductive to this goal and has gotten us nowhere in the U.S.”
Pot bust nabs bike star
Major marijuana probe results in arrests in Saratoga areaBy LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
First published in print: Friday, June 19, 2009ALBANY — The major drug bust of a thriving marijuana operation in Wilton this week nabbed two colorful characters: A one-time champion mountain biker and a budding filmmaker on a spiritual journey.
A federal judge set bail for the pair Thursday afternoon.
Police set up a sale between a confidential informant and former star mountain biker Melissa Giove.
I learned about the fun blog Bike Skirt from an issue of Urban Velo magazine. On Monday, Elisa (pictured above) posted a good checklist of items every summer bike commuter needs. Check it out, and tell ‘em RocBike sent ya.
From today’s Albany Times Union:
SCHENECTADY — A 62-year-old bicyclist suffered minor injuries after accidentally running into the back of a CDTA bus on State Street this afternoon, city police said. The man was pedaling behind the bus near Clinton Street and rear-ended the vehicle when it pulled over around 1:25 p.m., Sgt. Eric Clifford said.
The crash tied up downtown traffic for about 20 minutes, Clifford said. He said the man was taken to Ellis Hospital for observation.
– Paul Nelson
According to an article in today’s New York Times, a recent survey of New York City residents found that lack of storage is one of the biggest things keeping New Yorkers off bicycles.
In a city of tight living quarters and unaccommodating corporate towers, the biggest cycling challenge can be finding a good place store one’s ride when it is not in use.
For James Rather, an urban planner whose Riverdale walk-up does not have a storage option, lugging his bike up three flights to his apartment every time he rides is a “constant hassle” and a sometime danger.
You can read the article at the Times site.
