3 Flat Tires and One Level Head
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Time to name names. The following people rock: Molly, My Dad, Annie, and Julio. Well, many others rock but these have a particularly high level of rockness lately.
Okay, should back up on this one. I was making my way home from work in the gross sticky heat that only an impending Minnesota summer can offer not more than a mile into my 10 mile bike home when I had a tire completely blow out. Not sure if you know what that's like, but let me tell you it sounded like a gun shot...or at least I assume it did. I've never actually fired a gun.
Anyway, I pull out the trusty cracked-faced cell phone and call my sister to get into my hot car that's sitting in my parents yard with "for sale" signs in it since I recently bought my dad's old camry from him to replace my 89 town car. She drove up to pick up me and the remnants of evening commute and brought me back to my parents house to repair my bike.
I steal the few spare tubes that my dad bought and fill up the tire. I'm carrying my frame over to the recently repaired tire when that one decides to blow up. I filled it to 40 PSI where 35 is the minimum and 70 is the max so it's not like it was really over filled.
My dad pulls into the driveway sees me shaking my head as I, again, begin pulling my tire off the rim. We put the last remaining tube on very carefully and we both inspect it closely to make sure nothing is sticking out stabbing it or whatever. We let it sit for a little bit then off I go once again on my way home.
I get in about 25-30 minutes of riding when the tire completely blows out midstride and I skid on my rim for a bit as I drag my bike to the side of the path. I retrieve my trusty cell phone once and again and call frantically for that big pants, big-headed heroine...Annie. She comes and picks my ass up outside Sam's Club Liquor store and I force my bike into her grand am.
From here she agrees to take me to my favorite bike shop to the guys who handle all my repairs. I bring in my bike that they've seen twice this year already due to my shenanigans and despite the fact that store is supposed to close only 5 minutes after I arrive they proceed to try and figure what's wrong with my bike for the next 45 min..
Julio, the main manager or whatever he is, says that he thinks the problem is probably my pink shoe laces. Suggesting that since they're so "hot" they burned right through the tire. Julio proceeds to fill up two tubes to see if the tire is faulty and explodes them in the store to the shock of other customers that the other mechanics claim are super annoying anyway and wanted them to leave before the store "closed." Julio decides the tire is bad and says he'll send it to the manufacturer on warranty and he'll give me what he thinks is a better tire and refund me the difference by giving me $5.
WHAT!?!?!? He lets me in his shop after they're closed. Explodes 2 tubes (probably $4 a piece), gives me a brand new tire and tube, and then tries to hand me $5! I thanked him dearly then gave the $5 back to him and said he should have a beer on me. God I love those guys....and everyone else who came to my rescue yesterday.
Today on my ride to work I saw two huge snapping turtles and fox! Holy hell! I've never seen a fox in the wild before and this is like 5 miles from minnepolis....craziness.
Plus my pedal crank kept wanting to come off today so I had to stop a bunch of times on my way to work and tighten it by hand. I'm beginning to feel like the Job (as in Jobe) of biking and the God of biking is testing me to see if I have the patience to stay on the seat and keep pedaling.
So far....so good.
Love SuspeckTed
Okay, should back up on this one. I was making my way home from work in the gross sticky heat that only an impending Minnesota summer can offer not more than a mile into my 10 mile bike home when I had a tire completely blow out. Not sure if you know what that's like, but let me tell you it sounded like a gun shot...or at least I assume it did. I've never actually fired a gun.
Anyway, I pull out the trusty cracked-faced cell phone and call my sister to get into my hot car that's sitting in my parents yard with "for sale" signs in it since I recently bought my dad's old camry from him to replace my 89 town car. She drove up to pick up me and the remnants of evening commute and brought me back to my parents house to repair my bike.
I steal the few spare tubes that my dad bought and fill up the tire. I'm carrying my frame over to the recently repaired tire when that one decides to blow up. I filled it to 40 PSI where 35 is the minimum and 70 is the max so it's not like it was really over filled.
My dad pulls into the driveway sees me shaking my head as I, again, begin pulling my tire off the rim. We put the last remaining tube on very carefully and we both inspect it closely to make sure nothing is sticking out stabbing it or whatever. We let it sit for a little bit then off I go once again on my way home.
I get in about 25-30 minutes of riding when the tire completely blows out midstride and I skid on my rim for a bit as I drag my bike to the side of the path. I retrieve my trusty cell phone once and again and call frantically for that big pants, big-headed heroine...Annie. She comes and picks my ass up outside Sam's Club Liquor store and I force my bike into her grand am.
From here she agrees to take me to my favorite bike shop to the guys who handle all my repairs. I bring in my bike that they've seen twice this year already due to my shenanigans and despite the fact that store is supposed to close only 5 minutes after I arrive they proceed to try and figure what's wrong with my bike for the next 45 min..
Julio, the main manager or whatever he is, says that he thinks the problem is probably my pink shoe laces. Suggesting that since they're so "hot" they burned right through the tire. Julio proceeds to fill up two tubes to see if the tire is faulty and explodes them in the store to the shock of other customers that the other mechanics claim are super annoying anyway and wanted them to leave before the store "closed." Julio decides the tire is bad and says he'll send it to the manufacturer on warranty and he'll give me what he thinks is a better tire and refund me the difference by giving me $5.
WHAT!?!?!? He lets me in his shop after they're closed. Explodes 2 tubes (probably $4 a piece), gives me a brand new tire and tube, and then tries to hand me $5! I thanked him dearly then gave the $5 back to him and said he should have a beer on me. God I love those guys....and everyone else who came to my rescue yesterday.
Today on my ride to work I saw two huge snapping turtles and fox! Holy hell! I've never seen a fox in the wild before and this is like 5 miles from minnepolis....craziness.
Plus my pedal crank kept wanting to come off today so I had to stop a bunch of times on my way to work and tighten it by hand. I'm beginning to feel like the Job (as in Jobe) of biking and the God of biking is testing me to see if I have the patience to stay on the seat and keep pedaling.
So far....so good.
Love SuspeckTed
