I seem to get flat tires on my bike about as often as … as… something that happens pretty frequently and would be funny (commentors help me fill in the blank. ). Seriously, I think I’m going to start a tally on the blog that tracks all of the replacement parts I get for my bike, because there always seems to be something. Ah, the life of a bike commuter.
Now, I don’t commute full time. Don’t let me mislead you. However, I had been riding my bike to and from work every Monday. This was starting to be a great way for me to get some bike riding time in. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that the days getting shorter didn’t bother me at all, because I took advantage of Mr. Thomas Edison’s lightbulb invention and strapped one to my handlebars. Hahah! Not even nightfall could keep me from my rides. That is until I ran over a hole cover while riding in the dark a couple weeks ago.
There I was cruising along behind a fellow night rider (not sure this is the official term, but I like it), and thinking to myself how great it was to be out for a ride when most of the other Seattle area commuters were fighting gridlock. And it was great until a loud noise caught my attention.
Apparently, I ran over a cover for a hole in the ground that allows the parks and rec staff to put up posts at trailheads and remove the posts when they need to drive a vehicle down the trail. This is nice and convenient for them, but not so much for my bike tire. The grate jumped up in the bike fork, and punctured the tube inside my tire. Luckily, there was no crashing involved. Only a little walking. At least until Hannah came and picked me up. I owe her big time. Riding the late night metro bus in spandex isn’t exactly an exprience I’m ready to have just yet.
Bike Parts Tally
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1 inner tube
“…about as often as….about as often as…about as often as the stock market hits a record one day gain or loss.” Wait, that’s not funny.
about as often as snoop smokes a blunt…wait…does it happen every couple hours barry? hope you don’t get THAT many flats
about as often as Hannah calls a game night
Barry, I was getting flat tires in a way that seemed like it came from nowhere and a friend of mine showed me that some of my spokes’ ends were too sharp inside my wheels, where the tube for the tire goes. We covered up the sharp edges with electrical tape and now my tires seem fine.
Maybe that is not the problem with your tires, but I thought I should share this.
Genevieve,
Thank you for your insight. I think this might be the problem with my tire problem….I’m going to check it out.
Did you hear that I got a new Cranium game????? I did. It’s awesome. I am counting on you to play with me. Oh, the joy. J-O-Y.