I admit I am not the kind of guy who spends a lot of time with details. I do not get the oil changed in my car every 3,000 miles like the manual says I should. I do not change the filter on my home air conditioning every 90 days like I am supposed to. I just turn things on and expect them to run. I accept they may not be new anymore and live with poor performance. It makes life interesting.
When my bicycle tire is a little low I figure that is life and it will mean a little extra huffing and puffing on the cranks that is all.
The other morning it was just that. Not only was the tire low but the valve stem was at a slight angle suggesting the inner tube was slipping with the roll of the wheel. I could have taken two minutes and forced the tire forward on the rim to straighten the valve and pump the tire up, or I could just get on with it- which is what I did.
So I started to work on a low tire. BIG MISTAKE! I did not get half way before I knew I was in trouble. The front fork was wobbling back and forth. Looking I saw that the tube had gone flat and the rim was rolling on the rubber tire, which was folding one way and then the other throwing the steering back and forth. The valve stem had completely disappeared; it must have been drawn inside the rim by the friction of the rolling wheel.
I rode slow, very slow, hoping the rubber tire didn't come off of the rim, and because the kind of guy I am I did not carry any tools. When I came to a corner I took the turn at a crawl fearful of having the tire come off and wrap around the forks. The cranks felt like I was peddling up a steep hill all the way, and when I came to a hill I was crawling slower than ever. I worried all the time that the rim or tire was being damaged. I got to work on that flat tire fifteen minutes late.
I had no tire pump and no change for the air pump at the service station, (they all charge fifty cents for air in this town) so, I began the long ride home on the flat tire.I worried about the rim being damaged all the way. I rode slower than I had since the third grade. I was watching the tire more than the road. My forearms burned with the ache of keeping the wheel straight as the tire wobbled from side to side.
The ride home normally takes forty minutes but this time it was more like an hour and a half which turned my legs into rubber. I went to sears and bought a new inner tube. When I took the tire apart to replace the tube I found the valve stem was completely gone. There was no way it could have been pumped up.
Now every morning I greet the bicycle with the pump in one hand and feel the tires with the other to see if they need any air.
When my bicycle tire is a little low I figure that is life and it will mean a little extra huffing and puffing on the cranks that is all.
The other morning it was just that. Not only was the tire low but the valve stem was at a slight angle suggesting the inner tube was slipping with the roll of the wheel. I could have taken two minutes and forced the tire forward on the rim to straighten the valve and pump the tire up, or I could just get on with it- which is what I did.
So I started to work on a low tire. BIG MISTAKE! I did not get half way before I knew I was in trouble. The front fork was wobbling back and forth. Looking I saw that the tube had gone flat and the rim was rolling on the rubber tire, which was folding one way and then the other throwing the steering back and forth. The valve stem had completely disappeared; it must have been drawn inside the rim by the friction of the rolling wheel.
I rode slow, very slow, hoping the rubber tire didn't come off of the rim, and because the kind of guy I am I did not carry any tools. When I came to a corner I took the turn at a crawl fearful of having the tire come off and wrap around the forks. The cranks felt like I was peddling up a steep hill all the way, and when I came to a hill I was crawling slower than ever. I worried all the time that the rim or tire was being damaged. I got to work on that flat tire fifteen minutes late.
I had no tire pump and no change for the air pump at the service station, (they all charge fifty cents for air in this town) so, I began the long ride home on the flat tire.I worried about the rim being damaged all the way. I rode slower than I had since the third grade. I was watching the tire more than the road. My forearms burned with the ache of keeping the wheel straight as the tire wobbled from side to side.
The ride home normally takes forty minutes but this time it was more like an hour and a half which turned my legs into rubber. I went to sears and bought a new inner tube. When I took the tire apart to replace the tube I found the valve stem was completely gone. There was no way it could have been pumped up.
Now every morning I greet the bicycle with the pump in one hand and feel the tires with the other to see if they need any air.
