Schadenfreude bites back
Sometimes it’s better not to think unworthy thoughts.
As I was leaving work today and loading my bike up, I heard the tell-tale bing-bong-bing announcement tone from the University station, which always presages cancellations, delays and other associated rail-commuting hell. “Haha, Suckerz!!” I thought. “I’m about to breeze home on the bike, no delays.” That was my first mistake.
It was raining hard, but of the cyclist’s nemeses, rain is the weakest. It’s uncomfortable and unpleasant, but it’s just water. You get wet, then you get dry again. I had a schedule to keep too, because I’d arranged to give some unwanted kitchen equipment to someone via Freecycle, and they were coming to the house in about an hour and a quarter. That shouldn’t have been any problem, because I’d left plenty of time to get home, shower and get myself sorted out.
Then it happened, about 2 miles into the journey: a bang and the dragging, flapping feeling of a completely deflated rear tyre. Suddenly, I recalled the “Suckerz!!” thought and kicked myself metaphorically but soundly in the shins for being such a numpty. I got off and pulled my pump out of my pannier to see what I could do, but the sad little trail of bubbles in the puddle under the tyre and the gentle hiss of escaping air told me all I needed to know. The culprit was a dagger-shaped shard of glass a couple of centimetres long which had embedded itself deep into the tyre. Of course, I had no tools or puncture repair kit on me.
As I crouched in the pouring rain, pumping the tyre more in hope than expectation, and couple of ducks wandered over with one of those “you wouldn’t happen to have any bread about your person at all, would you?” looks in their eyes. I told them I’d give them a whole loaf if they could fix my puncture, but lacking opposable anythings or — for that matter — an understanding of English, they just carried on looking at the funny, wet human.
There was nothing else for it — I had a 5 mile fast trudge, or rather squelch, to try to get home in time to meet the Freecyclers. Nice.
Amazingly, I just about made it. I was 5 minutes late, but the woman waited and went away with the stuff. But I’ve got really tired legs, wrecked feet and a giant puncture to fix.
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After that happened to me, a friend told me what he does - never carry a repair kit, always carry a spare inner tube (and those things for getting the tire off). Kind of like having a spare wheel on your car.
The other thing I did was get 'puncture proof' tyres, as the roads I use are full of glass, stones, etc. We will see.
by JulesLt @ 09/05/2007 7:13 pm • Permalink •
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And people wonder why the car is so popular.....
by Andy Cunningham @ 09/05/2007 8:14 pm • Permalink •
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"And people wonder why the car is so popular....."
I had 10 punctures in as many years on 2 of my cars, rarely repairable, at £60 per tyre I could have bought several bikes! (Not the flash ones like Bsag's)
Soon Ms. B is going to resent her soubriquet, like when the creams stop working!
by Jonathan Briggs @ 09/05/2007 9:14 pm • Permalink •
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I'm tempting fate here... I've had one puncture in the same time, and that was a slow puncture that I drove on to the tyre place, they fixed for a tenner, and I drove on to work.
Actually, that's not quite true: I did get a puncture in Canada last year. In a hire car. 35 miles from the nearest town. We'd seen 4 cars in that time. And the jack broke changing the tyre.
by Andy Cunningham @ 09/05/2007 9:34 pm • Permalink •
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So sorry to hear about the bike woes, but "numpty" is a WONDERFUL word. Did you make that up, or is it a commonly used British word?
by Inkygirl @ 10/05/2007 2:08 pm • Permalink •
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JulesLt: I would carry a spare inner, but the problem is that with a full chainguard and hub gear, there's quite a bit of fiddling to do to get the rear wheel off, so I'm not sure that I'd save much time. I'd also worry about losing a crucial nut or something if I did it by the roadside. I also do actually have 'puncture proof' tyres, but even they can't protect you from daggers of glass if you hit them in the wrong way.
Andy Cunningham: Actually, my car is even more trouble. Over the past 6 months, we haven't got in it without having one problem or another. And yes, changing car tyres can be more of a problem than changing a bike's tyres.
Jonathan Briggs: "Soon Ms. B is going to resent her soubriquet, like when the creams stop working!" Eh? I'm obviously being dense, but I don't follow...
Inkygirl: No, I didn't make it up. It's a Scottish vernacular word, and to be honest sounds much better said with a Scottish accent than with my soft southern one. It roughly means 'useless idiot' (see definition), but also has a touch of affection about it.
All: Not for the first time, I was thinking that if someone provided a kind of AA/RAC breakdown service for bikes, I would jump to join it. Being able to call someone and get a small van to pick you and your bike up, transport you where you need to go and then fix your bike would be fantastic. 95%+ of the problems would be puncture repairs, so it wouldn't be difficult work, you'd only need a small van (or car with a bike carrier), and the distances involved would be small.
by bsag @ 10/05/2007 6:12 pm • Permalink •
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Or . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54CpPlCnM4I
by JulesLt @ 10/05/2007 6:18 pm • Permalink •
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I'm old and (b)sagging - gettit?
by Jonathan Briggs @ 10/05/2007 8:08 pm • Permalink •
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You have my sympathy. That's a rotten bit of bad luck.
by Milan @ 12/05/2007 4:30 pm • Permalink •
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That's why I LOVE cars
by Tom @ 14/05/2007 11:45 am • Permalink •
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[...] if someone provided a kind of AA/RAC breakdown service for bikes, I would jump to join it [...]
I just came across cycle rescue and remembered this post.
You might also want to look out for 'glueless' puncture kits - they are basically rubberised plasters, but good enough to get you home and less hassle than faffing around with the traditional sort.
by Ian @ 29/05/2007 3:38 pm • Permalink •
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JulesLT: Oh, that's priceless! I don't remember that one from the series, oddly enough. Michael Palin can come and fix my punctures in his flat cap and boiler suit anyday!
Jonathan Briggs: Groan.
Milan: Thanks!
Tom: Until you get a puncture in a car
Ian: Wow! I've never seen that before, despite the fact that Mr. Bsag used to belong to the CTC. I'll have to check that out. We've actually tried the glueless patches before. Perhaps we got bad ones, but they didn't even stay on long enough to get home :-(
by bsag @ 29/05/2007 6:28 pm • Permalink •
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I had 10 punctures in as many years on 2 of my cars, rarely repairable, at £60 per tyre I could have bought several bikes! (Not the flash ones like Bsag's)
by Toronto Condominium @ 18/04/2008 9:28 pm • Permalink •
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