Another great September morning - 67 degrees, hazy sun. I haven't tangled with the Mother Of All Intersections lately so I took a spin up that way. It looks kind of tame in the photo, but it ain't.
I had to return to my most unfavorite bike shop last night to return one of the two tubes I purchased. The first one I put on had a small hole in it. Well let me tell you, they took that tube back and handed over another one right quick. No arguments or anything.
They guy asked if I had been using any tools to get it on the wheel, and I told him no. I said "No, I just gently laid the tube inside the tire, and gently got one bead of the tire on, and gently put a little air in it, and gently (I kept repeating "gently" to distract him from that fact that my tube re-installation method was not quite correct) listened and heard a gentle 'sssssssssssssssssss', and I gently swore." I'm sure that repeating "gently" over and over conjured up the real picture of what happened: me with the leather work gloves on, cursing and swearing as I gouged away with the plastic tire levers, hot tears of frustration rolling down my bike-grease covered cheeks, while my children whispered nervously to mommy "Is daddy laughing or crying?".
Anyway, the bike shop has definitely come up a notch in my book even if they didn't know the average weight of a Maine beaver.
1 comment:
I'd like to read the post where you got a flat while commuting in 20 degree weather in the slushy snow. That's gotta be fun, changing a tube while in the cold while cars splash brown, muddy snow on you.
Post a Comment