Sooner or later, your bike will have a flat tire. There is nothing you can do about it except be prepared.
The other day, I was on the loop parkway when I felt my bike wobbly. I knew something was wrong. I was pushing and pushing at 140 watts and not going anywhere. That’s when I decided to stop. I checked the rear tire first. That felt fine. Next, I checked the front tire.
It was flat. I looked in my gear bag and found an inner tube and a CO2 cartridge, but I had nothing to activate it.
Very Few People on the Path
It was after 6 am, and very few people were on the path. I started to walk the bike back to the car, except I was five miles away, and walking in my bike shoes was uncomfortable.
Suddenly, a man rode beside me and asked me if I needed help. I told him I had a flat and could use assistance. He said, “I’m in the middle of my workout. I’ll come back when I finished.”
Another Man Came By
“You okay,” he asked.
I told him I had a flat and didn’t have the right tools to fix it. He got off his bike and said, “Let me help.”
He pulled out his gear and I pulled out mine. We took the front tire off and he helped to take off the actual tire. He checked it to see if there were any holes and when he felt satisfied, he put the new inner tube in and put it back on.
Meanwhile, the mosquitos were relantless. They were biting us up alive.
Once the tire was on
Once we put the tire back on the bike, he blew up the tire with my CO2 cartridge and his CO2 regulator and pumped some air in the tire. He didn’t use the whole cartridge in fear of blowing out the tire.
It was enough to get me back five miles to the car but it wasn’t enough to ride as I normally do. So, I left him, told him he was a Godsend, thanked him profusely, and went on my way 10 mph back to the car.
There are some amazing people out there.