The good news is I’ve gotten pretty good at changing tires

I haven’t posted anything for a while. I’ve either been working, spending time with my family, or biking.

Over my several years as an adult bicyclist, I’ve had very good luck with my tires. I have gotten six flat tires the whole time! The good news is two of them were in my driveway. The bad news is three of my flats have been in the last two weeks. During the first one, the tube blow-out was caused by a slit in the tire, which was caused by the wheel falling off the top of the car and bouncing down the road behind me. Yes, I realize that is a better story than a few flat tires, but it was embarrassing, as it happened right in front of a barracks on the weekend with a lot of soldiers lounging around outside, so you’re not going to hear any more about THAT one.

Anyway, the first flat. I was lucky because the owner of the local LBS was there, and he can change a flat in no time, and there was even someone with a spare tire for me to borrow. I always carry a spare tube, but who expects to discover their TIRE is busted at the start of the tuesday night group ride? Watching this free tire change, I learned how to remove a tire without tire irons, surely a handy skill.

Unfortunately, I learned a few days later that changing two or more tires at once in this manner gives me a nice big blister on my thumb. I suppose I could practice changing bike tires a few times a week, and then my hands would be tougher and I could change lots of tires without getting a blister, but, well, no thanks. I had bought replacement tires from Chain Reaction and was putting them on the wheels. I guess this doesn’t really count as a flat, because I only had to change one of the tires; I chose to change the second tire so I’d have a matching set on my bike. I will count it as a malfunction, because while pumping my tires up from this flat, the head of my bike pump self-destructed!

The last flat occurred the very next morning when I was about to go on a ride with my neighbor. I went over to his garage just before we were supposed to leave so I could borrow his floor pump. I pumped up my two tires, then got on the bike to make sure the gears and brakes were still properly adjusted, and POP! went my front tire. I had to use tire irons to get this one off, due to the big blister I got changing them the night before.

I hope that’s the last of my flats for a long while!

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