Ride that Flat Tire

On this morning's ride to work, I almost got to the Mississippi River when I hit a block of concrete in the street. It was about the same color as the street and it was dark. I guess my fantastic lights won't save me from every dumb move. I hit the rock with both wheels. When the front one struck the rock, one of my hands came off the bars. That's scary.

I circled around to move the rock from the road and by the time I made my turn, the rear wheel was flat. I kicked the rock pretty hard and it landed in a lawn under a street light. I rolled the bike over and started digging out the tire repair equipment.

I remembered I grabbed the pump from this bike to use on last weekend's ride in Wisconsin. No pump.

I've been through this before. Some lessons I never learn. This problem results from having more bikes than pumps and repair kits.

I rode the bike home (about 4 miles) with a flat rear tire. Thump, thump, thump into a stiff, cold headwind. I used lower gears than I'm used to. I decided to shower and drive my car, because I either needed to move the bag and lights to another bike or dig out another tire and repair the flat. Both options required more time that I can justify.

The rule that should come from this is that I should never remove any tools from the commuter bike for use on another bike.

I could use the tire in a pinch, but I'm in no pinch with regard to tire. I hoard tires like Imelda Marcos hoarded shoes. For all I know, she might still be hoarding shoes. I'm working on my tire hoarding affliction. I put a Kenda Kozmit Light 1.75".