Monday, May 5, 2008

Fixing a flat

I have never understood the people who travel without the basic equipment.  Although flats have been rare, I have always gotten them at bad spots...  carrying my kids around, a mile and a half away from my house while it is pouring down rain, thirty miles from anywhere...


 I have a fanny pack (yeah, go ahead a make fun of me.) that I keep all of my essentials in.  I keeps a tube for each of my bikes, bike pump and multi-tool.  With this setup, I can drop the fanny pack into whatever bag I am carrying.  If I am riding without a bag, I can cinch it down to fit on my rack.  In a worst case scenario, I wear the fanny pack.

Today it came in handy.  Not for me, but for some stranger on the I-70 overpass.  

He was walking his bike on the shoulder, so I pull up behind him.  I asked if he was OK, and he told me it was a flat.  I asked if he had a tube or a pump.  The answer was, "no."  I told him I could help.  He was leery of my offer.  His shiny new bike told me he not not really had the opportunity to experience the kindness of cyclists.  

I offered my tube, pump and services.  He took me up on the offer.  It became obvious that he had no idea how to change the tube.  I explained the steps and the importance of keeping the tires properly inflated.  I told him about a couple of websites that that would help him begin bike commuting.  

I hoped it helped.  I hope that there will be one more person on a bike.

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I have not done this in a while but here are gas and CO2 numbers

Money not spent on gas: $127.75
CO2 not released into the atmosphere: 693 pounds
Beer I drank tonight: Great Lakes ESB

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2 comments:

Groover said...

Good on ya! I once gave my pump and spare tube to a guy stranded on top of a Mountain. He had used his spare already and his gas cylinder so he was very grateful. Since it was getting dark and I had no lights I had to keep moving and left the pump with him. It turned out he was a bike store owner and I got a pretty good deal from him on wheels. The same night a guy passed me when I was still 20 minutes from home and he gave me his rear light as it was pitch dark by then. I still have the light!

Unknown said...

Great to lend a helping hand. Always feels good to stop and help a fellow cyclist. I've had a few times when complete strangers would stop and ask if everything is OK. We are a close knit group